Luca Brecel has been backed for plenty more success by Ronnie O’Sullivan (Picture: Getty Images)
Ronnie O’Sullivan believes Luca Brecel can become a regular tournament winner after his shock World Championship success, but he must stick to the style of play he showed at the Crucible.
Brecel beat the Rocket on his way to the world title in Sheffield, also beating Ricky Walden, Mark Williams, Si Jiahui and then Mark Selby in the final.
It was a stunning run having failed to win a match at the Crucible on five previous visits and the challenge now will be to keep up that level of performance on the tour as world champion.
The Belgian Bullet had won three ranking titles before his World Championship glory, so he has shown he can do it elsewhere, but not on a regular basis.
O’Sullivan believes the confidence the world title will give him will see him win a lot more, but only if he doesn’t change from his natural, fluent, attacking style of play which brought him the richest prize in the game.
‘I think now he’s won the World Championship he’s going to have tremendous belief and if he just sticks to thinking, if I can have five good tournaments a year I could win three. Don’t change your game,’ O’Sullivan told Stephen Hendry on his Cue Tips channel.
‘You were a bit like that and I’m a bit like that with the way we play. We’ll lose a few but when we were right, we’d win.
‘Do you want to be a quarters/semis man every week or do you want to win three or four [tournaments] a year? You just want to win tournaments. I think as long as he keeps doing what he’s doing he’s going to become a stronger player.
‘He’s only 28, he’s an amazing talent, I think he’s the most talented player I’ve played. He don’t care, he just plays, gets down, pots balls.’
Hendry added: ‘Its not even the talent, it’s just the way he floats around not giving a s**t.’
Brecel will have a different kind of pressure to deal with next season (Picture: Getty Images)
After losing 13-10 to Brecel at the Crucible last month, O’Sullivan told the BBC: ‘He played unbelievable, he’s such a good player, I love watching him play. He gets through the ball so well, it’s incredible.
‘Such a dynamic player, full of talent, probably the most talented player I’ve ever seen.
‘Phenomenal talent, phenomenal player, lovely boy, I wish him all the best and I hope he goes on and wins the tournament now.’
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‘As long as he keeps doing what he’s doing he’s going to become a stronger player.’
