World Snooker Championship final: All-out attack Luca Brecel stuns Mark Selby to take five-frame lead
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Updated 01/05/2023 at 15:30 GMT
Luca Brecel is just three frames away from becoming the fourth non-British player to win the World Championship after a stunning session of snooker against Mark Selby. Brecel made four centuries and will have a 15-10 advantage going into Monday evening, where the first-to-18 final will be concluded. You can follow all the action from 18:45 UK time on Eurosport and discovery+.
'At times he's been unplayable!' - Brecel moves within three frames of Crucible glory
Luca Brecel played lights-out snooker to stun Mark Selby and take a 15-10 lead going into the final session of the World Championship final at the Crucible Theatre.
Selby, who made a historic 147 on Sunday night, was just 9-8 behind but was blown away by Brecel in the opening four frames of the afternoon in the best-of-35 encounter.
Brecel is looking to join Cliff Thorburn, Ken Doherty and Neil Robertson as the only non-British winners of the World Championship.
The Belgian bullet fired in a 113 following a loose positional shot from Selby and won the next frame with a few scoring visits.
Another mistake from Selby, as he missed a red to the middle, was punished with a 101 from Brecel, and he went 13-8 ahead with a sensational 141 clearance.
“The biggest problem Mark Selby has isn’t the quality from Luca’s cue, it’s the mindset he’s got,” said Eurosport expert Alan McManus.
“He [Selby] can’t barricade him in. He just pushes through the door and keeps coming at you like a runaway train.”
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‘Out of body experience’ – Brecel ‘fairytale’ is happening, says McManus
Jimmy White added: “He [Brecel] potted a red in that session and got the wrong side of the blue, which is a bad shot as the top players wouldn’t have been wrong side of the blue.
“But it doesn’t affect him because he’s got so much confidence in his cue action. He’s just having good fun out there! I don’t think he’s thinking about winning the World Championship.”
You can never rule out Selby, though, as he notched up a 63 after the interval and picked up the pace to pull a frame back.
Frame 23 was huge as Brecel missed a thin red on 41 and Selby responded with a 54. One red was left on the table, so a big safety battle developed.
Brecel initially rode his luck by going for pots, missing and getting away with it, but Selby fumbled too by fouling three times when put in snookers.
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'Luca Brecel in the zone!' The Belgian Bullet knocks in another century
However, the Jester from Leicester came out on top when laying a snooker of his own on Brecel and forced an error to sink a red over the yellow pocket and stole the frame to go 13-10 behind.
Just when Selby thought he was on the front foot, Brecel wowed the Crucible crowd with a sensational 119, continuing to take risks and pulling off some big shots that Eurosport commentator Philip Studd called “absolutely outstanding”.
The final frame had another key safety exchange, with Selby 40-20 up with three reds remaining. Selby left a red to the green pocket for Brecel and he downed it with ease, before clearing up to the pink, which was enough to win the frame and go three away from becoming world champion.
Coverage of the final session will begin at 18:45 UK time on Eurosport and discovery+.
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