Brilliant Brecel in historic fightback
LUCA BRECEL made the greatest comeback in Crucible history to keep his dreams of becoming world champion alive.
The Belgian battled back from 14-5 down as he won 12 of the last 13 frames – which included a brilliant 11-frame burst – to beat Si Jiahui 17-15 in their semi-final.
It topped Ken Doherty’s fightback from 15-7 down to beat the late Paul Hunter 17-16 to reach the 2003 final and the battle by Dennis Taylor in 1985, when he was 8-0 and 9-1 behind before stunning Steve Davis 18-17 in the black-ball final.
“When it was 14 each, I said to my girlfriend if I win it would be the most emotional and crazy feeling ever,” said Brecel, whose girlfriend Laura needed an emergency passport to get to England for the match.
“I was disappointed to be 14-5 down because Laura had made all the effort to come over here.
‘‘I could never dream of this. Being 14-5 down to win 17-15 is crazy. It’s going to take a while to sink in. I was feeling it inside – I couldn’t believe it. I was shaking so much.
‘‘I’ll celebrate with a couple of pints and some nice food with my friends.”
The world No.10, who won seven frames on the bounce to end Ronnie O’sullivan’s title defence in the quarter-finals, started the charge on Friday night as he closed from 14-5 to 14-9.
The big turning point occurred when Si (below) missed an easy green to win the last frame and lead 15-9 overnight.
Breaks of 70, 81 and 73 saw Brecel lead 16-14 but Si finally stopped the rot with a fine 92 visit.
But Brecel then secured a spot in his maiden final.