Luca Brecel’s Stunning Comeback against Si Jiahui Keeps World Snooker Championship Hopes Alive

Luca Brecel, the Belgian professional snooker player, staged a remarkable comeback in the World Snooker Championship quarterfinals against Chinese player Si Jiahui. Brecel was 14-5 down at one point but managed to win the final five frames of the third session, ending the night with a 14-10 scoreline in Jiahui’s favor.

The session started with Si Jiahui, the youngest ever player to reach the quarterfinals, taking the lead by winning the opening three frames. He continued his impressive form from the morning and extended his lead to 13-5, thanks to a 90 and a tournament-high break of 132.

Brecel responded with a break of 108 to make the scoreline 14-6 going into the mid-session interval. After the break, the Belgian player started playing with more aggression and took the next two frames with some exhibition snooker shots. The crowd at Crucible Theatre was thrilled with Brecel’s attacking gameplay, which saw him cut a thin red near the pink spot into the right middle pocket.

Although Brecel missed the frame ball in Frame 23, he managed to reduce Si’s lead to 14-9. Si was in first in the final frame of the night, but his optimistic plant missed the mark, and Brecel cleverly hit a red ball into the blue to begin his turn, and subsequently scored 53 points in a row. Despite missing the final red ball, he provided Si with an opportunity to win the frame. However, Si unexpectedly failed to hit the green ball and showed his frustration by hitting the table. This allowed Brecel to end the night with a four-frame lead.

Ronnie O’Sullivan, the six-time world champion, called Si Jiahui a “phenomenon” and compared him to Stephen Hendry. However, Brecel’s remarkable comeback shows that the Belgian player is not ready to give up his hopes of reaching the World Championship final. No one has ever come back from a nine-frame deficit to win at the Crucible, but Brecel’s stunning session has kept his hopes alive.