The 2024 World Snooker Championship was in full swing, with a big upset in the first round, with former world champion Luca Bresel being reversed from a 7-3 9-6 lead to a 9-10 loss to David Gilbert in the first round. Fans weren't too surprised by this, as Luka didn't perform too well throughout the season, and to make matters worse, he may have to play in the Pro Qualifier next season because of his poor results.
In 2023, Brecel will participate in the World Snooker Championship as the No. 9 seed in the tournament, defeating Rich Wharton 10-9 in the first round to achieve his first victory in the World Championships, defeating Mark Williams 13-11 in the second round, winning 7 games in a row after falling behind 6-10 in the quarterfinals, and finally defeating Ronnie Wharton 13-10. O'Sullivan reached the top 4 of Crucible for the first time in his career; in the semifinals, he chased 11 games in a row after falling behind 5-14, and finally defeated Si Jiahui 17-15, completing the biggest reversal in the history of the Crucible Theater and entering the final of the World Championships for the first time; in the final, he broke 100 by five strokes, and finally defeated Mark Selby 18-15, winning the World Championship for the first time and becoming the first world champion of the post-90s.
However, going into 2024, Bresel has only won one Invitational Mixed Doubles title (Luca Brecel/Renee Evans beat Mark Selby/Rebecca Kenna 4-2, both of whom won their first WST Tour title of the season). Although the Belgian reached the final of the Riyadh Carnival Masters, they eventually lost 2-5 to O'Sullivan to finish as runners-up.
Now, competing in the World Championships again, Luca once led 9-6, but was chased by David Gilbert for 4 games in a row. Gilbert was surprised: "I thought I was going to be out of the game when I was 6-9 down, but Luka didn't catch the golden flower. I felt motivated in that moment. So much so that I waved my fist at the crowd after the fight, which I don't normally do because I was so excited today!"
Other players' reports:
Ali Carter 5-4 Stephen Maguire
特鲁姆普6-3侯赛因·瓦菲
Anda Zhang 4-10 Jack Jones
It is worth mentioning that Ding Junhui is about to appear. In this battle, Ding Junhui's opponent was Lisowski, the two had fought 3 times before, and Ding Junhui won all of them. In the 2023-2024 season, Ding Junhui has recovered his form, not only advancing to the final of the British Championship for the fifth time, but also defeating Shaun Murphy 5-3, ending his 11-year winless record against the latter, and defeating Neil Robertson 6-5 to enter the final of the Snooker World Open. Although he failed to win the final championship, with his outstanding performance, Ding Junhui's world ranking also returned to the TOP16 ranks.
On April 23, Beijing time, Ding Junhui will start the promotion match with Lisowski, looking forward to his wonderful performance!