O’Sullivan slayer Brecel WINS World Snooker Championship as he fights off Selby

GET the party started – Luca Brecel was crowned World Champion despite the most unorthodox preparation in the history of elite sport.

The Belgian slacker – whose mantra seems to be ‘fail to prepare, prepare to succeed’ – survived a late fightback from 147-conjuror Mark Selby to prevail 18-15 for his maiden triumph.

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Laidback Brecel – who has “Free Bird” and “La Vida Loca” tattooed on his hands – trusted his natural ability and swagger to push him through the difficult moments.

And despite having to endure a nervy spell as Selby turned a belated screw, five magical centuries in this final saw him reach the summit of snooker and scoop a mammoth £500,000.

It is amazing that before last month Brecel had NEVER savoured a single victory at world level despite five previous failures across 11 years.

Brecel is the fourth man – after Terry Griffiths (1979), Joe Johnson (1986) and Shaun Murphy (2005) – to lift the title having won the tournament just weeks after winning their first match.

In 96 years, Brecel becomes the first baize world champ from mainland Europe and fifth winner outside of Great Britain and Ireland.

Speaking after his win, an emotional Brecel said: “It is amazing. I cannot see through the tears.

“Mark made it so tough, he is the worst opponent to have, he just keeps coming back. He is such a fighter. I don’t know how I did.

“Snooker is a mental sport. I could have lost in the first round. If I had, people would have said again, ‘he has lost first round’. Now I am the winner. Snooker is  all about the small margins. It is crazy.

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“I have the best team, best friends, parents and girlfriend. If you don’t have the team it makes it difficult to play the game.

“I won’t practice for a couple of weeks and months. I will enjoy this. It has been a cray week. No practice, just partying. It shouldn’t be legal.

“I want to say to Mark and Vikki: Please stay strong.

“It will now explode in Belgium snooker. I am just so happy.”

And Selby added: “Luca is a great talent, I wish him all the best, enjoy the year, you deserve this. 

“It is great to make a 147 at the Crucible, something I always wanted to do, never thought I would do it in a final. 

“I will remember it for the rest of my life. 

“This is about Luca, he played fantastically well over the past two days. Every time he got a chance it looked like he would win the frame in one visit.”

Any aspect that a professional sportsman should do to be successful on the biggest stage – get sufficient shuteye, practise the day beforehand, arrive on time – was completed ignored by this party animal.

Fined for missing the pre-event media day on April 14, Brecel claimed he had practised for just 15 MINUTES in the weeks before the Crucible action began.

In the build-up, he spent his time throwing darts, playing computer games and late-night partying until 7am.

After his second-round win over Mark Williams, he drove through the night back to Belgium and then got “DRUNK AS HELL” with his pals.

And Cool Hand Luca turned up just 20 MINUTES before the start of the third session on Bank Holiday Monday.

This astonishing campaign saw him come from seven frames down to dethrone the world champion and world No.1 Ronnie O’Sullivan in the quarter-finals.

Then he came from NINE frames behind to knock out Chinese rookie Si Jiahui in the semi-finals, which is statistically the greatest comeback ever seen in this theatre.

Having led day one of the final 9-8, Brecel was in the mood to entertain and knocked in wondrous breaks of 113, 101 and 141 inside four frames.

In reply, Selby, 39, only put away 59 points as he was completely overwhelmed in a blur of Belgian pots.

At this point, it was a far different performance from the guy who had celebrated a maximum the night before – the first one ever witnessed in a World final.

Some of the shots the crowd saw from Brecel, which included a double and a quadruple, would not have been out of place in John Virgo-style exhibitions.

Even when Selby tried to wrap him up in some form of safety torture, he had the discipline and the nerve to wriggle free.

Brecel, 28, went into the evening session with a 15-10 lead thanks to a key 119 in frame 24.

It was inevitable that Selby would fight back – it is not his character to simply lie down and accept defeat.

The Leicester Jester won five of the opening six frames of the night, notably with magnificent scores of 78, 122, 50 and 52.

But when Selby missed a black off its spot in frame 32, Brecel – who had not sunk a ball in 54 MINUTES – found his touch again to move one frame away from victory.

And then the Showman beat the Slowman thanks to a match-winning 112 in frame 33 — which he celebrated once match-ball went in.

They will be dancing in the streets of Antwerp and Brussels tonight.

And the parties, provided everyone stays off those strong Belgian beers, are likely to go on for several days or more.