Code breakers
Former world snooker champion Luca Brecel FORGETS CODE to cue case before rival comes to rescue at Scottish Open
Brecel was offered some advice by Ronnie O'Sullivan to get back to his best
LUCA BRECEL'S snooker season threatened to go from bad to downright comical were it not for the shock intervention of a rival.
The 2023 world champion has struggled to find his groove on the table this season.
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This poor form has led to fears the Belgian cueist could be axed from the World Snooker Tour.
However, Brecel, 29, was almost left red-faced after FORGETTING the code to open his cue case before his clash with compatriot Julien Leclercq in the opening round of the Scottish Open.
And he was almost forced to play with no cue before Stuart Bingham swooped in to save the day ahead of a must-win game for The Belgian Bullet.
Brecel revealed how Ball Run had managed to crack the code for this case, saving him from having to break the case open.
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Speaking to Brecel said: "He (Bingham) cracked the code.
"I thought it was 009 to open the lock, but it turned out it was 000. So everyone knows the code now!
"It was Stuart Bingham to the rescue. If he didn't get the code, we were going to have to break it open.
"That match was probably the most pressure I've felt since winning the World Championship.
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"I had to win that game, just for myself, because I have been playing well when practising.
"I think I brought it to the match table today."
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Brecel ended up winning the game 4-3, with the World No.7 mounting a comeback from 3-2 down to triumph.
He then followed this up with a more convincing 4-1 win over Yuelong Zhou.
His next opponent is Junhui Ding at 1pm today.
While Stephen Hendry called out Brecel for his "awful" form, Ronnie O'Sullivan - who pulled out of the Scottish Open just hours before his first game - offered his rival some advice.
The Rocket, who himself has struggled recently, said: "A happy person is normally a happy snooker player, but you have got to put the work in.
"Even Usain Bolt had to put a lot of training in if he wanted to win medals, and he is probably the most talented, gifted specimen of a sportsman there has ever been.
"But if you watch his documentary, he worked really hard. If he didn't, he would not win, and that applies to everybody. Luca has to make his own mind up and where he wants to go in the game.
"The one thing I will say is rankings are not that important. When you have that amount of talent, if you decide to put the work in, you will win tournaments.
"The ball is in his court and only Luca can make those decisions."
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Bingham, 48, has also progressed past two opponents to reach the last 16, with his game taking place at 9pm against Lei Peifan.
You can follow all of the snooker action from Edinburgh with SunSport's live blog here.
List of all-time Snooker World Champions
BELOW is a list of snooker World Champions by year.
The record is for the modern era, widely considered as dating from the 1968-69 season, when the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association (WPBSA) took control of the sport.
The first World Championships ran from 1927 - with a break from 1941-45 because of World War II and 1958-63 because of a dispute in the sport.
Joe Davis (15), Fred Davis and John Pulman (both 8) were the most successful players during that period.
Stephen Hendry and Ronnie O'Sullivan share the record for the most titles in the modern era, with seven each.
- 1969 - John Spencer
- 1970 - Ray Reardon
- 1971 - John Spencer
- 1972 - Alex Higgins
- 1973 - Ray Reardon (2)
- 1974 - Ray Reardon (3)
- 1975 - Ray Reardon (4)
- 1976 - Ray Reardon (5)
- 1977 - John Spencer (2)
- 1978 - Ray Reardon (6)
- 1979 - Terry Griffiths
- 1980 - Cliff Thorburn
- 1981 - Steve Davis
- 1982 - Alex Higgins (2)
- 1983 - Steve Davis (2)
- 1984 - Steve Davis (3)
- 1985 - Dennis Taylor
- 1986 - Joe Johnson
- 1987 - Steve Davis (4)
- 1988 - Steve Davis (5)
- 1989 - Steve Davis (6)
- 1990 - Stephen Hendry
- 1991 - John Parrott
- 1992 - Stephen Hendry (2)
- 1993 - Stephen Hendry (3)
- 1994 - Stephen Hendry (4)
- 1995 - Stephen Hendry (5)
- 1996 - Stephen Hendry (6)
- 1997 - Ken Doherty
- 1998 - John Higgins
- 1999 - Stephen Hendry (7)
- 2000 - Mark Williams
- 2001 - Ronnie O'Sullivan
- 2002 - Peter Ebdon
- 2003 - Mark Williams (2)
- 2004 - Ronnie O'Sullivan (2)
- 2005 - Shaun Murphy
- 2006 - Graeme Dott
- 2007 - John Higgins (2)
- 2008 - Ronnie O'Sullivan (3)
- 2009 - John Higgins (3)
- 2010 - Neil Robertson
- 2011 - John Higgins (4)
- 2012 - Ronnie O'Sullivan (4)
- 2013 - Ronnie O'Sullivan (5)
- 2014 - Mark Selby
- 2015 - Stuart Bingham
- 2016 - Mark Selby (2)
- 2017 - Mark Selby (3)
- 2018 - Mark Williams (3)
- 2019 - Judd Trump
- 2020 - Ronnie O'Sullivan (6)
- 2021 - Mark Selby (4)
- 2022 - Ronnie O'Sullivan (7)
- 2023 - Luca Brecel
- 2024 - Kyren Wilson
Most World Titles (modern era)
- 7 - Stephen Hendry, Ronnie O'Sullivan
- 6 - Ray Reardon, Steve Davis
- 4 - John Higgins, Mark Selby
- 3 - John Spencer, Mark Williams
- 2 - Alex Higgins
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