Luca Brecel won the World Snooker Championship in 2023, but just three years later he would not be at the Crucible after losing in qualifying.
Brecel was in fine form as he beat the impressive Chang Bingyu in his first qualifying contest, but was beaten 10-5 by Jak Jones on Wednesday night, with the Welshman making five centuries.
The spectacular Belgian shot conquered the Crucible when he defeated Mark Selby in the ’23 final.
Earlier in the tournament, he had beaten the likes of Ronnie O’Sullivan and Mark Williams, while he also staged an impressive comeback against Si Jiahui in the semi-final, winning 17-15 from 14-5 down.
However, it has been a tough time for Bullet since then, and its ranking has slipped to its current position of 46th.
The £500,000 he won at the Crucible in 2023 dropped from his ranking two years later and he struggled for results over the final season.
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This was partly due to a decline in his performance, but also due to illness which forced him to withdraw from several tournaments.
Speaking on the Peak Performance Podcast earlier this month, Brecel said: ‘This season I missed eight or nine tournaments. I’ve talked about it, I don’t feel well.
‘I don’t want to say too much because it sounds like an excuse, but it is what it is.
“I’ve missed all the big tournaments. It wasn’t my decision to miss them, I just couldn’t play them physically, and that was even more frustrating.’
The 31-year-old reached the quarter-finals of the British Open in September, but that was his only notable result of the season.
The player who had a good season but still couldn’t play at the Crucible was Jack Lisowski after losing 10-5 in the final qualifying round to China’s He Guoqiang.
Jackpot won his first ranking event of the season when he beat Judd Trump in the final of the Northern Ireland Open in September.
He then reached the final of the Welsh Open last month, losing to Barry Hawkins, but earning the £150,000 BetVictor Bonus for the best performing player in the Home Nations series.
However, the 34-year-old was not in great form in qualifying, being tested by German amateur Umut Dikme in his opener and then beaten quite comfortably by He on Wednesday.
The 25-year-old will make his Crucible debut this month, joining Stan Moody, Liam Pullen and Antoni Kowalski, who all confirmed their debuts on Tuesday night.
Results of the Second Judgment Day
Luca Brecel 5-10 Jak Jones
Anthony McGill 7-10 Ali Carter
He Guoqiang 10-5 Jack Lisowski
Ben Mertens 4-10 Fan Zhengyi
Zak Guarantee Your 3-10 Zhang
Xu Si – Gary Wilson
Ryan Day 5-10 Lei Peifan
Liam Highfield 10-2 Oliver Line
MORE: Young snooker stars hope to create their own Luke Littler effect at the Crucible
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