Skip to content

Luca Brecel defeats Shaun Murphy to win China Championship

Luca Brecel of Belgium leaves the arena after losing 10-5 to Stephen Maguire of Scotland during the first round match of the World Championship Snooker
Image: Luca Brecel of Belgium sealed his first ranking title

Belgium's Luca Brecel fought hard for a 10-5 comeback victory over Shaun Murphy to seal his first ranking title in the Evergrande China Championship.

The 22-year-old, who entered the tournament ranked 27th in the world and a winner against five-time world champion Ronnie O'Sullivan in the quarter-finals, lost the first two frames to Murphy and then the fourth to fall 3-1 behind but took the match lead in the seventh and never looked back.

Murphy claimed a 107 break in the fourth frame - the biggest of the match - but Brecel battled back into the game as he won four on the bounce to go ahead before the 2005 world champion clinched the ninth and 12th.

Also See:

Brecel, who reached the second round of June's Riga Masters, edged the 13th 53-52 and went on to take the next two to seal the best-of-19 triumph and move up to 15th in the rankings.

Around Sky