Brecel makes superb start to World Snooker Championship final with Selby

Luca Brecel has made a brilliant start to his first ever World Snooker Championship final, leading Mark Selby 6-2 after the first session at the Crucible.

The Belgian Bullet began the game with a break of 77, winning the first frame in well under 10 minutes and settling perfectly.

He took the second and then made a 90 to go 3-0 ahead in short order, although Selby stopped the early momentum with his first half-century before the mid-session interval.

The second half of the first session went just the same as the first though, with Brecel taking it 3-1 and building an impressive 6-2 lead, with a break of 70 in the final frame of the afternoon.

The 28-year-old looked good, but wasn’t playing no-miss snooker, Selby was not really scoring when he got chances himself and he will certainly have to improve if he is to get back into the match.

Brecel looked as unflustered as he has all tournament, though, and the occasion has certainly not got to him yet.

‘I don’t think it’s a surprise, because coming through the championship as he has done, he should be flying, he should be,’ Stephen Hendry said on the BBC. ‘And that’s exactly what he did this afternoon. He stamped his authority on this final.

‘The way that he plays, with this casual attitude, I can’t really see him being under pressure in this final. I think Mark Selby has just got to play brilliant snooker. That’s how he gets back into it.’