Gilbert wins final four frames to send champion Brecel crashing out

David Gilbert won the final four frames to ensure the Crucible curse of first-time defending champions continued as Luca Brecel was sent spinning out of the World Championship 10-9.

No first-time winner has ever defended the title in the Crucible era, with a host of star names such as Steve Davis and Neil Robertson crashing out at the first hurdle 12 months on.

Brecel looked well set to avoid that after taking a 6-3 lead in the first session, and moving 9-6 ahead on Saturday evening.

A 9-6 lead was a flattering one for the Belgian, as his form dipped alarmingly and he enjoyed huge slices of luck.

But he was unable to close out the match and Gilbert kept chipping away before producing his best passage of play at the business end to seal a thrilling win.

Both players had chances in the opening frame of the evening, and it boiled down to the battle on the last two colours. Gilbert potted the pink but did not drop on the black. After a safety battle, Gilbert offered a shot at a thin cut into the yellow pocket and Brecel stroked it in to extend his lead to four frames at 7-3.

In the 11th, Gilbert bounced back from the agony of seeing the white hang over a pocket for what seemed like an eternity before it dropped in, as he rallied with a break of 57 to get his first frame of the evening.

The 12th had the feeling of a frame that would never end.

Brecel was in total command but missed a host of chances to close it out and a bizarre foul when he hit a red with his cue gave hope to Gilbert.

Gilbert laid a couple of good snookers to earn a host of foul points, but with blue, pink and black on the table he went in-off to seemingly hand the frame to Brecel.

The defending champion inexplicably failed to get on the pink from the blue and threw his cue at the pink, a shot described as “an air of desperation” by Neal Foulds in the Eurosport commentary box.

Gilbert potted the penultimate colour and, like the first frame of the evening, it boiled down to a battle on the black.

Brecel’s pot success was at 92% in the first session. When he missed a wild attempt at a double on the black, it had dropped to 80% in the second, and Gilbert knocked in a tough black to win a frame he looked out of for long periods.

The champion’s pot success dipped further in the 13th frame when an attempt at a red to left middle did not have the pace to threaten the pocket.

Gilbert had the chance to heap more pressure on Brecel, but when in the balls he missed a red by a distance and the Belgian steeled himself to stop the rot and restore his three-frame lead at the final interval.

Brecel’s indifferent play continued upon the resumption as he knocked in a superb red followed by an excellent yellow, but ran out of position on 32.

A rare passage of safety play saw Gilbert emerge with the upper hand and he looked well set, only to miss the penultimate red.

Brecel did not take the chance and some poor safety handed Gilbert further chances and an excellent yellow off the final red set him up to close within two once again.

The pressure was firmly on Brecel when he came to the table in the 15th frame facing a snooker. Little thought went into the shot – with Foulds exclaiming “attention all pockets” as he let fly.

Amazingly, a red dropped into the right middle. From there, it was vintage Brecel as he compiled a superb break of 85 to get within one frame of the winning line.

With a 54-point lead in the 16th, Brecel could have been forgiven for having thoughts of a few days at home in Belgium before returning for the second round. The topsy-turvy nature of the contest snuffed those thoughts out, as he broke down and a nerveless 65 from Gilbert kept the match alive.

Gilbert had a spring in his step towards the end of his 65 and he followed up by taking the 17th with a break of 81 – which came after Brecel thundered in, according to Foulds, the “pot of the day.”

Gilbert was on the march again in the 18th, but was stopped in his tracks as what appeared a beautiful split of the pack saw one of the reds drop into the bottom right.

Brecel won a series of tight matches on his way to the title last year – including a decider in the opening round. He had the chance to ensure a 19th frame was not required but he missed a simple green with the match at his mercy, and Gilbert cleared to the pink to take the match the distance.

The defending champion attempted to pot himself out of trouble in the decider, but luck deserted him as his effort remained on the table and the white dropped in a pocket.

Gilbert put together an impressive break of 65, but the match demanded a twist and it came as the Angry Farmer missed match-ball red – albeit he had a 69-point lead.

With nothing safe, the pressure was on. A second bite at the cherry came and went – a tough red to the bottom right. At the third time of asking Gilbert knocked in a superb red to right middle and Brecel offered his hand and some words of congratulation

Luca Brecel began his World Snooker Championship title defence in impressive fashion, building a 6-3 first-session lead over David Gilbert in the tournament opener.

The reigning champion looked sharp from the first break as he got off to a blistering start at the Crucible in Sheffield.

He fired in a break of 91 in the opener and followed it up with a dominant century (134) – helped by a brilliant double on the yellow to sustain the break – to take an authoritative two-frame lead.

Brecel had a great chance to strengthen his early advantage when he was gifted an open pack at the beginning of the third frame, but he could only manage 24 points before he made a mess of a safety shot to give Gilbert a rare opportunity at the table.

But the Englishman’s problematic start continued as he caught himself in a tight bunch, which cost him a miss on a simple red to the bottom left pocket. However, Brecel was not as devastating as he had been to that point, as Gilbert returned to the baize to pull a frame back.

Despite Brecel’s excellent start, Gilbert backed up his 70 break in the third frame with a knock of 77 to pull level as the pair headed for the mid-interval session.

Following the break, a refreshed Brecel returned to the table and capitalised on an error from Gilbert, who left a long red for the ‘Belgian Bullet’ to kickstart another half-century knock (73) and regain the lead.

After rediscovering the free-flowing best he had showed in the opening frames, Brecel strategically dropped a magnificent final red into the bottom right as he went on to record his second century of the match (104) and restore his two-frame buffer.

The seventh frame became scrappy, with both players missing shots you would have expected them to put away. Brecel stepped up and showed some superb positional play on the blue ball to come in and out of baulk and set up his next red, which helped him over the line for 5-2.

Just as Brecel threatened to run away with the opening session after an audacious long red at the start of the eighth frame, Gilbert replied with a magnificent break of 115 to reduce the deficit to two frames.

A long-winded ninth frame followed, but Brecel just about did enough to stretch his lead once more to take a three-frame lead into the final session.

The pair will resume their 19-frame match on Saturday from 18:45 UK time, live on Eurosport and discovery+.