Luca Brecel (pictured) described beating Scotland’s own John Higgins in last year’s BetVictor Scottish Open Final as one of his best career moments and the Belgian is looking to retain the title when he starts his defence at Meadowbank in Edinburgh on Monday, November 28
The 27-year-old recorded a 9-5 victory over Higgins 12 months ago, but he will have his work cut out as star names scheduled to appear in Scotland’s Capital include home hope Higgins, plus world champion, Ronnie O’Sullivan, Judd Trump, Neil Robertson, Mark Allen, Mark Selby, Mark Williams and Shaun Murphy.
In fact, they are all in action on the opening day and tickets are available from just £10 – for details click here.
Brecel, the world No 11, faces Fraser Patrick in the first round, and said: “I have great memories of winning the tournament last year. To beat John in the final was amazing.
“He’s one of the all-time greats and, over a best-of-17 match, he is so tough to beat. Even when I was 6-2 in front after the first session I know it would be hard to get to nine frames.
“I bowed down to him at the end because he is a legend and I respect him so much as a person as well. It was definitely one of my best moments in snooker so far.”
He recalled that he could have gone out in the first round after slipping 2-0 behind against Joe Perry and roaring back to win 4-2. That signalled a run of form.
Brecel, who broke Scottish-born Stephen Hendry’s record as the youngest player ever to compete at Sheffield’s iconic Cruicble, home of the world championship, said: “After that I played really well. I lost in the UK Championship Final the week before so I really didn’t want to lose two finals in a row.”
He won his third ranking title at the start of this season at the BetVictor Championship League and added: “It’s fantastic that we are going back to Scotland this time, having played the event in Wales last year.
“The fans there absolutely love snooker (up there) and it has been a few years since we have been in Scotland so I’m really looking forward to it. Hopefully, I can keep my defence going as long as possible.”
He feels good about his game and winning the first tournament of the season gave him a lot of confidence and Brecel finished last year’s final with a ‘no-look’ pot on the final black, a shot which has 15 million views on WST’s TikTok.
The former European under-19 title winner at the age of 14 admitted: “It was actually the first time I have ever done that. I didn’t think about it until I was down on the shot. I’d probably do it again if I get the chance because the crowd love it.”
The event is part of the BetVictor Home Nations Series and will be televised by Eurosport and range of other broadcasters worldwide.
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