Brecel takes European Championship

Congratulations to Belgian youngster Luca Brecel who has today captured the EBSA European Championship with a 7-4 victory over former professional Roy Stolk…

When he captured the European Under-19 Championship last year, people certainly raised their eyebrows but following this latest triumph people are really going to sit up and take notice as it seems to be only a matter of time before Luca graduates to the main tour.

Indeed it has been some week for the Belgian as he has taken an impressive list of scalps including Stolk, Kristjan Helgason and Michal Zielinski during the knockout stage having already stormed through the group phase with an unblemished record.

Normally Luca would now be eligible for a main tour place, as he was last season following his U-19 triumph, but there is of course a minimum age limit of 16 to turn professional so he will have to wait at least one more year before he can mix it with the professionals. The way he is performing at the moment though I would be surprised if he were not to be awarded a wildcard place for 2011/12 as players like him would surely fit in well with Barry Hearn’s plan to revitalise the sport.

Click here to read a report of today’s final over at Global.