Luca Brecel - what's the deal?

What are the strengths and weaknesses of this upcoming player?

What do you guys think he needs to do in order to make the next steps?

Cheers.

Straight arm cueing is a weakness. It may have been ok for Joe Davis but I think bent arm cueing suits the modern game more, and it allows greater power, spin and acceleration through the cue ball. Some will say that if it's what Luca does, then it's fine. My answer would be, has he tried a bent arm bridge with a coach for a while?

Careless.

NNear wrote:What are the strengths and weaknesses of this upcoming player?

What do you guys think he needs to do in order to make the next steps?

Cheers.

Winning a few matches might help.

LOLZ SF.

From the little I've seen he's a great break builder, but if he runs out of position he rushes his safety in frustration. Schoolboy error for a pro. Even I don't do that. Maybe I just caught him on a bad day.

I think Michael White is the real deal.

So, what's the deal?

Talented, but my joke about him winning more matches had some truth to it.

He has never seemed to translate his potential into results.

Got to bear in mind at 20 though, he has his career in front of him and is gaining experience all the time. Will reaching a final give him confidence? Will he be able to push on, and gain some much needed consistency? A win in this tournament could be massive in terms of his career.

Yep, today could be an important day in Luca's career.

I always have my doubts about Luca. He seems a bit strange to me. Always smiling even when he's losing... Making strange decisions... But yesterday, even if he was playing bad, he did seem more mature and his safety game was great.

Chris Henry, who worked with Hendry, Murphy and Ebdon, seems to believe in Luca. He once said he thinks Luca reads the table like Alex Higgins used to do.. Ronnie and Jimmy have said some good things about Luca as well.

I think Luca is a bit of a strange fellow. Personality and playing wise. Even his stance and cue action are a bit strange. A bit old school. But him being a bit weird is what makes him interesting.

In the end, it would be fantastic for the game of snooker if a young gun starts winning tournaments and challenging the old guard. It would also be fantastic for the game if a non UK player would start winning tournaments. Luca is both these things.

Theres lots of videos of a young Luca practicing on YouTube. I tell you what, if he starts playing like that in matches, we have ourselves a new Alex or Jimmy! But that's what we said about Judd as well. Judd is a fantastic player, but he's not living up to his full promise in my opinion. I would love to see Luca live up to his potential. I think it would be great for the game and would inspire young people everywhere to pick up a cue.

Holden, on some of your comments... weren't there rumours that Luca Brecel is slightly socially challenged?

https://propelsteps.wordpress.com/2015/ ... ad-autism/

I don't know how much truth there is to this. Luca, if you ever read these boards and this isn't true then:

1. I'm sorry.. and
2. Even if it is, it's obvious you're doing a tremendous job and it seems to me you get on well with the players and youe career is on the up and up. You're doing a great job dealing with any extra stuff.

**

Back onto Luca.

I asked in the match thread yesterday about his straight bridge arm. It seems to allow for a greater margin of error and more chance for the cue to go off straight in the cueing process.

Anyway, him reaching his first major ranking final at only 20 years of age is an excellent accomplishment. If he's to win the final, I think he must accept the tight situations and not rush his shots when he approaches frame ball, and not pretend to be too casual out there when he's feeling the strain. His coping mechanism is to smile and be casual but it results in him making errors.

Yes, Luca was diagnosed with a form of autism when he was a child. That's what I've read in some articles anyway.

And yes, Luca has a straight bridge arm but I don't know if this causes him to miss sometimes..

It was good enough for Joe Davis anyway.. Luca is a bit short, like Joe Davis was. Maybe this is why they have a similar stance?

NNear wrote:Holden, on some of your comments... weren't there rumours that Luca Brecel is slightly socially challenged?

https://propelsteps.wordpress.com/2015/ ... ad-autism/

I don't know how much truth there is to this. Luca, if you ever read these boards and this isn't true then:

1. I'm sorry.. and
2. Even if it is, it's obvious you're doing a tremendous job and it seems to me you get on well with the players and youe career is on the up and up. You're doing a great job dealing with any extra stuff.

**

Back onto Luca.

I asked in the match thread yesterday about his straight bridge arm. It seems to allow for a greater margin of error and more chance for the cue to go off straight in the cueing process.

Anyway, him reaching his first major ranking final at only 20 years of age is an excellent accomplishment. If he's to win the final, I think he must accept the tight situations and not rush his shots when he approaches frame ball, and not pretend to be too casual out there when he's feeling the strain. His coping mechanism is to smile and be casual but it results in him making errors.

I was going to make a tasteless joke about this, but though better of it.

He looks pretty cool, which is always a good thing. Many times it is matter of just getting out of the bed in the mornings feeling fresh and ready to qonquer the the world. Instead of thinking about the other "better" players with a more solid overall-game and approach. Because those better players almost always will get ousted during the earlier stages of the tournament. I personally really liked this year´s German Masters final, Luca versus Martin Gould. This is how these draws usually spams out. People like Stephen Maguire, Ryan Day or Ronnie O´Sullivan will have a many chances to prove something different. I do admit that especially Stephen Maguire has that supreme overall-package and game which the likes of Luca and Martin might lack. But still this Luca´s maiden final was really a cracking one. "The German Powerhouse" (an audience) took a solid griepening of how it landed, and appreciated Luca.

Steve Davis and Stephen Hendry have a few times labelled Ronnie O´Sullivan as a genius, No other snooker player has been labelled as a genius. But obviously current top players like Stephen Maguire and Ryan Day are extremely, extremely naturally gifted players. But Ronnie has not been labelled that for nothing. He is still the only one who can shoot those rockets, with an unrivalled flair and precision. No matter how strange people might see his antics, personality or behaviour.

Interesting to see How Luca will develop from now on.

After this week, he's now World Ranked No. 28 !
He can go higher, though...

PoolBoy wrote:After this week, he's now World Ranked No. 28 !
He can go higher, though...

I think that's true of most World 28s. There's 27 places they could go that is higher.

SnookerFan wrote:

PoolBoy wrote:After this week, he's now World Ranked No. 28 !
He can go higher, though...

I think that's true of most World 28s. There's 27 places they could go that is higher.

You've changed your avatar to the chicken madras girl!!!

PoolBoy wrote:You've changed your avatar to the chicken madras girl!!!

Se could go lower.

dodgey facial hair

PoolBoy wrote:

SnookerFan wrote:

PoolBoy wrote:After this week, he's now World Ranked No. 28 !
He can go higher, though...

I think that's true of most World 28s. There's 27 places they could go that is higher.

You've changed your avatar to the chicken madras girl!!!

Smart wrote:dodgey facial hair

Who? The Chicken Madras girl?