New world champion Brecel happy to be hailed as the next Alex Higgins after his Crucible victory

Luca Brecel is thrilled to be labeled the next Alex Higgins – after playing and partying in the late legend’s style.

The Belgian Bullet stunned the Crucible crowd with its attacking approach en route to winning his first world title on Monday night.

At the post-tournament party, World Snooker Tour chairman Barry Hearn said: ‘I saw a little bit of Alex Higgins come back into my world tonight’ as he welcomed Brecel onto the dance floor.

The 28-year-old then paid tribute to Hurricane – the maverick two-time world champion – by continuing to drink up with his friends, family and beating opponent Mark Selby until 4am on Tuesday morning.

“I saw a lot of people comparing me to Alex Higgins and that’s great, it’s a huge compliment,” said Brecel, who traveled back to Belgium later on Tuesday with a sore head but a check for £500,000 and the trophy.

Mark Selby (left) and Luca Brecel (right) partied together after their amazing finale at the Crucible

‘That’s how I want to play. I want to be entertaining. Winning is not the most important thing. It’s great to see the public enjoying it and people loving it online as well. That’s the most important thing to me.’

At Monday night’s party, Selby surprised Brecel by playing Queen’s DJ We Are The Champions.

The gracious runner-up also praised Brecel’s victory as ‘great for snooker’ – and the Belgian believes the fearless way he won could be a game-changer for the sport.

“It’s the style people want to see,” Brecel said. “I think it can affect the way the game is played.

“I don’t want to sound arrogant, but I think I’m a great world champion because I play the game very offensively.

“It’s not always going to work because I miss shots and leave my opponent easy chances. But when it works, it’s fascinating to watch.’

Brecel famously boasted before the tournament that he did not practice, but spent his time partying and playing darts. He also prepared for his win over Ronnie O’Sullivan in the quarterfinals by getting ‘drunk as hell’ back in Belgium.

“I just partied a lot, went out and had late nights and didn’t exercise,” Brecel explains. “It was a different approach this time – and it worked!”

Brecel has been tipped as a future world champion since becoming the youngest player to appear on the Crucible in 2012 at the age of 17. However, he failed to win a game here in five visits for this year.

“After my record here, after five attempts not to win a game, I didn’t expect to win it any time soon,” admitted Brecel.

Swashbuckling Belgian celebrated his Crucible victory in the style of maverick Alex Higgins

“So to win it this year is absolutely amazing. It was the same thing Joe Johnson did in 1986 – never win a game here and then win.

“It’s a dream come true and no matter what happens now in my career, I can say I’m a world champion.

“I am only 28 and still have so much time in my career. Hopefully many more will follow.’

Brecel is the youngest Crucible winner since Shaun Murphy in 2005 and the first world champion from mainland Europe.

“I was so nervous because I wanted it to happen for Belgium and for Europe,” he added. Now that it’s done, I can’t wait to see what it brings to the world. It’s going to explode.’