Milkins roars after comeback victory against Boiko
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Luca Brecel’s stop-start opening to the new snooker season continued on Friday when he failed to appear in Wigan for his Scottish Open qualifier against Steven Hallworth.
The former world champion won the Scottish Open with a 9-5 win over John Higgins in 2021, but will play no further part in this year’s tournament with Hallworth handed a 4-0 walkover from a match that was due to begin at 4pm BST at the Robin Park Leisure Centre.
World No. 93 Hallworth progresses to the final stages of the Scottish Open, between December 15-21 at Meadowbank Sports Centre in Edinburgh – a tournament that will be live on TNT Sports and discovery+ – but mystery continues to surround Brecel.
The ‘Belgian Bullet’ lost 6-4 to world No. 123 Liu Wenwei in the International Championship qualifiers last month only days after enjoying a decent run to the quarter-finals of the English Open in Brentwood, where he lost 5-4 to Zhou Yuelong in the last eight.
In a season overshadowed by a lack of consistency, he also failed to appear for his Wuhan Open qualifier with Haris Tahir in June and opted out of the British Open qualifiers before skipping the Saudi Arabia Masters in August, where he was due to meet Sanderson Lam.Brecel then opted to quit his best-of-nine frame qualifier at the Xi’an Grand Prix last month, trailing world No. 74 Sunny Akani 2-0 and 40-1 in the third frame, citing issues with his cue as the reason behind the walkout.
Watch extraordinary moment Brecel quits mid-match at Xi’an Grand Prix
Video credit: TNT Sports
He did qualify for the Northern Ireland Open in Belfast with a 4-0 whitewash of Liam Davies to set up a last-64 meeting with Stephen Maguire on Tuesday, but it is a far cry from his 18-15 win over Mark Selby in the Crucible final two years ago.
Brecel has also aired health concerns in recent weeks, revealing to reporters that he had sought medical help from doctors regarding issues with fatigue.
“Some people have come up to me and said ‘oh, is it mental health’ and they have tried to help,” he said.
“It’s not my head. I’m perfectly happy. I’m fine. It’s not mental. It’s physical things in my body. Strange. I’ve been to the doctor many, many times. Maybe 18 times in three to four months.”
Meanwhile, Thai speed merchant Thepchaiya Un-Nooh produced a sparkling break of 144 in a 4-1 win over Chatchapong Nasa as he booked his trip to Edinburgh.
Last week’s Xi’an Open semi-finalist Daniel Wells was sent crashing back to earth as he lost 4-0 to Liam Pullen.
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