Luca Brecel reaches final eight of World Snooker Championship

Luca Brecel has qualified for the quarter-finals of the World Snooker Championship in Sheffield, England. The Belgian beat Welsh triple world champion Mark Williams 13-11 in the second round of the tournament on Friday.

"It's great for my career to beat someone like Mark Williams," Brecel said. "He is a legend and it is so hard to do this. I had to play well and stay focused the whole match."

This is the first time Brecel, who is competing in his sixth World Championship, has survived the first round of the tournament. He made his debut in 2012 as the youngest player ever, aged 17, and also played in 2017, 2018, 2019 and 2022.

"He is the deserved winner," Williams said. "I hope he can maintain his level of form. If he comes out against [reigning champion Ronnie] O'Sullivan and continues to play like this, he will be hard to stop."

Brecel will face either O'Sullivan or Hossein Vafaei in the next round. In that match, which will be decided on Sunday, O'Sullivan is leading 6-2. Brecel's quarter-final starts on Tuesday at 11.00 Belgian time.

^{© BELGA PHOTO YORICK JANSENS}