Luca Brecel has revealed he is no longer a millionaire after blowing his World Snooker Championship winnings. The 28-year-old has splashed out on fancy cars since his victory at the Crucible earlier this year.
Brecel landed himself £500,000 when he beat Mark Selby in Sheffield in May. It was the first world championship triumph of his career and included victory over seven-time champion Ronnie O’Sullivan at the quarter-final stage.
The Belgian immediately splashed out on a Ferrari 488, worth an estimated £350,000 at the time. He has since added a Range Rover and a Porsche to his ever-growing collection.
Ahead of the UK Championship this week, Brecel revealed that a large part of his fortune had gone. He claimed it has allowed him to recreate the pressure he faced before his Crucible success.
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He said: “I bought two more cars this week, so I went from a millionaire to a non-millionaire. It was a conscious decision to buy the cars and maybe feel that bit of pressure again, to recreate the feeling I had of just starting my career.”
Brecel admits his motivation dropped once he picked up his £500k reward seven months ago. He intentionally spent a fortune in order to bring back that winning mindset.
He added: “I didn’t go lazy, but I just didn’t feel that hunger or motivation going from tournament to tournament. I don’t like that feeling and I had to change something.
“I wasn’t feeling any pressure any more. I was just playing and if I lost I was happy to be home. It’s not a good mindset to have.”
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Brecel is also open to spending big on a night out, admitting after his world championship win: “I won’t practice for a couple of weeks and months. I will enjoy this. It has been a crazy week. No practice, just partying. It shouldn’t be legal.”
Brecel has come close to achieving world No 1 status but is yet to break that barrier. He admits that is one of his next goals in the sport.
Brecel said: “I’m still young and I feel like one day I’m going to get to number one anyway. I’ve been one match away and one frame away from world number one.
“I think my best chance was going to the Wuhan Open and I didn’t, so that shows you how much it keeps me busy. But it would be nice to tick it off, I’m not going to lie.”
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