World snooker champion Luca Brecel in major danger of being booted off World Tour as career plummets to shock new low
SNOOKER star Luca Brecel is at risk of being kicked off the World Tour after plummeting down the rankings.
Just 16 months ago, Brecel won his first World Snooker Championship title at the world-famous Crucible.
He beat Mark Selby 18-15 in the final and went on to finish second in the end-of-season rankings.
But his poor run of form this year has seen the Belgian Bullet fall rapidly down the list.
He is now provisionally 62nd in the end-of-season rankings, meaning his spot on the World Snooker Tour is at risk.
The top 64 players qualify for a spot on the Tour.
And having already been knocked out of the Saudi Arabia Masters following a 5-2 defeat to Pang Junxu, he is in danger of falling further down the rankings.
Brecel was dumped out of qualifying for the Xi’an Grand Prix in China after arriving late for a match last month.
And his best ranking-tournament result this season has been a quarter-final finish in the Welsh Open.
Mark Allen recently criticised Brecel for “not carrying the sport” following his World Championship win.
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He explained: “No disrespect to Luca, because he thoroughly deserved to win his World Championship, but I don’t think he did much for World Snooker, he didn’t really carry the sport for the next 12 months.
“I think sometimes the way he speaks about the game doesn’t endear himself to people who are grafting away trying to get better.
“I think Kyren (Wilson, 2024 champion) is the opposite of that.
“But each to their own, they’re both world champions at the end of the day.”