Luca Brecel (pictured here with Jimmy White) has become at 15 the youngest ever winner of the European amateur title.The teenage Belgian sensation, who won the European under 19 title last year, defeated Dutchman Roy Stolk 7-4 in today's final in Bucharest, Romania.
Brecel trailed 3-1 but a break of 120 launched his comeback and he won all but one of the remaining frames.
Brecel is too young to turn professional but will surely be accepted on to the main tour in 2011/12.
Wendy Jans retained the women's title and Darren Morgan once again captured the seniors crown.
22 comments:
Dave, who was the youngest winner before Brecel?
Darren Morgan seems to play well in these type of seniors events so it is ashame he pulled out of the new World Seniors as he was a good value price.
Luca Brecel might be too young (he only turns 16 in March 2011), EBSA are still going to award him a Main Tour nomination for the upcoming season, says EBSA in a press release.
Is it true that Shaun Murphy got dispensation to play on the Main Tour when he was still 15?
EBSA are consulting with World Snooker before making the formal nomination, despite what I said in the press release!!
Yes Murphy did get special dispensation obviously helped by the fact his father was on the board.
Will Luca be entering any PTC events? The obvious answer would be yes.
@Eric
it's extremely interesting news.... what about his parents? Do they agree to put Luca under the pressure of professional tour? As I remember Shaun has been shocked at the early years in MT
Luca's just knocked in 96 against Jimmy White, lost position on the pink for the ton.
you can watch Jimmy's exhibition live streaming at www.esnooker.pl
Luca Brecel seems some talent,
Some snooker followers think he
will be Top 16 within 5 years.
With the established UK players,
the emerging Chinese,the Thunder
from Down Under,having some more
European talent coming through
would truly make it a global game.
Eric - Shaun Murphy was born in 1982 & turned pro in 1997.
In the mid-late 1990s,the Premier League used to be staged near where Shaun lived (in Northants) - so he made some useful connections long before he turned pro at 15.
It's one of tghe great snooker myths - and there are many - that Shaun Murphy got dispensation because his father was on the board. In fact, he wasn't a board member for two years AFTER Shaun turned pro.
He was a fortnight away from his 16th birthday when the qualifiers began and was therefore given a sensible dispensation.
Anyway, it was only fixed at 16 because of tobacco sponsorship. No reason why it can't be lower.
What is the legal school leaving age? Don't you have to be 16?
Forcing him to stay amateur will not do him any good. Wasn't Trump good enough to turn pro at 14?
good enough to turn pro, yes, but there are a lot of people good enough to turn pro at 14-17, but that doesnt mean they should leave school earlier than they want/are meant to, as just being good enough to turn pro wont ensure a good income
tho luca is very special. i believe at 13 he was better than judd was...
Jamie Brannon seems to be obsessed with the odds on the world seniors, it seems a bit odd that all his recent posts talk about this and not the main topic.
" Wasn't Trump good enough to turn pro at 14?"
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trump struggling to play at pro standards now.
Yes he struggled to the Austrian Open beating the World Champion in the final didn't he? Just like he struggled to the Championship League title last year and looked so out of place in the Premier League.
:-)
There are legal restrictions on the number of hours you can work if you are still at school age - I think you can work 2 hours a day on a weekday and there's a weekend restriction too. The school leaving age is different for everyone because you have to go to school up to the end of the spring term in the school year you turn 16 so Shaun Murphy was legal at 15, but Luca won't be legal for most of the upcoming season.
I guess the workaround here is that he's only "working" if he earns money, so the WSA might let him enter on the understanding he won't be entitled to any prize money!
Trump isn't exactly struggling to play at pro standards. Although he has so far failed to achieve top player status I believe he just beat Robertson to win the Austrian Open. Of course there is way less pressure at that event compared to the big ranking tournaments but it shows talent nontheless.
The disappointment lies more with the 'next O'Sullivan' stamp he got on his forehead a few years back.
Ha Ha whoever said Trunp is the 'next O'Sullivan' LMFAO!!! YEAH RITE O!!!!!!!!!
I don't know if the school laws in Belgium are different to the UK, where the leaving age if official 16, and the skiving off/non attendance age is about 10!
In Luca's case I don't think school has any benefits at all for him. In fact I don't think he's in regular school anyway but I may be wrong.
Jimmy told a Romanian Press Conference Yesterday that he thought Barry would find a way round the 16 age limit
"The disappointment lies more with the 'next O'Sullivan' stamp he got on his forehead a few years back."
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that is exactly why i believe less hype about Brecel now as a 15 year old would benefit him more long term.
Trump's failings was trying to live up to the hype he had as a junior and he has not done that.
if Brecal going to succeed we need to lay off him and let his talent come through gradual.
yeah LMAO. judd is young, but not an idiot, and i doubt he ever will be....so that comparison was never going to come true.
In Belgium, one has to be educated untill 18 years. Off course, My country wouldn't be called Belgium if there weren't any back door options to avoid another law. I mean that there are different types of possibilities to do a job and still be in school for about half of the time. Another option, obviously only used by rich people, is to have a private teacher (only allowed when this person has an official degree for teaching), who gives education a number of hours a day. It seems logic to me that Brecel might go with this construction if allowed on the tour.
As a long time snooker fan i am looking forward to cheer for a Belgian in the bigger tournaments in a few years...
I'm told Brecel can enter the new Players Tour and, as there are two places for juniors in the new World Open, would be very likely to be in this as well.
I was so privileged to see the European Snooker Championship Finale. It was great!
And Luca`s performance was...words are not enough to speak about how talented this young boy is!
I see great things for him in the future!
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