Luca Brecel spent £500k of World Snooker Championship prize money on FOUR supercars! Belgian is heading back to the Crucible again in need of topping up his bank balance again

Luca Brecel is a man in a hurry. The Belgian Bullet stunned the Crucible last year with its fast and furious playing style. And when he’s not in trouble, he’s just as fast and wastes no time burning his £500,000 prize money – all on flashy cars.

Just days after his shock World Championship win last May, Brecel spent half his winnings on a Ferrari 488. A few months later, he added a BMW M4 and a Range Rover Sport to his growing garage, then bought a Porsche for friend Laura. Taycan for her birthday.

“I think I deserved it,” Brecel says, smiling. ‘I have a Ferrari and a few others, just to enjoy it every now and then. It was just a bit of fun, and why not?’

But fun wasn’t the only reason behind Brecel’s spending spree.

After a poor start to the new season, the 29-year-old felt he had lost his appetite for success having already secured snooker’s biggest prize. Brecel thought that if he threw all his money on cars he would win races so he could replenish his bank balance.

Brecel romped to victory in the World Snooker Championship in Sheffield last year

The Belgian, pictured with his other half Laura Vanoverberghe, leads a luxurious life

“I had to change something to feel that inspiration again,” the world number four admits ahead of his Crucible title defense against David Gilbert today. ‘The reason I didn’t play well this season is because I didn’t want to go to tournaments.

“It was just my mental state. It wasn’t lack of exercise or anything – it just wasn’t hunger. That’s how I felt in the beginning, but now it’s completely different. I feel like I have that hunger back now. And it’s even more than before.

“The bad season might help me for the next five to ten seasons because I never want to be the same again. I’m in a much better place now than I was before.

‘Everything I do in my life now is trying to become a better player, to have more control on the table. I’m really hungry, literally because I’m on a diet!’

Brecel says he has lost more than a stone since starting his diet after ‘eating too much’ following his incredible Crucible triumph 12 months ago.

“I feel much better,” he admits. ‘Eat less, count my calories, do some exercise here and there. I used to worry about my fitness. A few years ago I ran long distances. I’m trying to get back to that.

‘It really helped me. I think this was the change I needed to play well again and I feel like now the sky is the limit. I’m very close to last year’s level.’

Brecel is pictured alongside Ronnie O’Sullivan ahead of this year’s World Snooker Championship

Brecel was incredible in last year’s tournament and said he hadn’t even practiced

Brecel says he now has his appetite back and is hungrier than ever before

If that is true, Brecel’s rivals had better watch out, because his level was well on his way to becoming the first world champion from mainland Europe. Amazingly, he had not won a single match during his five previous Crucible visits. He also claimed he had not practiced before last year’s tournament and spent his time ‘partying, playing FIFA and playing darts’.

After knocking out three-time champion Mark Williams in the second round, Brecel even went back to Belgium and stayed up drinking until six in the morning, getting as ‘drunk as hell’.

But in his quarter-final against defending seven-time winner Ronnie O’Sullivan, he reeled off seven consecutive frames in the final session to come from 10-6 down to win 13-10.

“Beating Ronnie 7-0 in one session was a special moment,” Brecel reflects.

“It was also fantastic to see Stephen Hendry in the commentary box giving a standing ovation as I walked out. The whole tournament was like a dream.”

Brecel then completed the Crucible’s biggest comeback, winning 11 frames in a row in a 17–15 semi-final win over Si Jiahui after being down 14–5.

Brecel admits nerves got to him during last year’s final, but he pulled through

In the final he defeated four-time champion Mark Selby 18-15, hitting a break of 112 to win after seeing a 16-10 lead cut to 16-15.

“Being 16-10 ahead, I kind of collapsed and started to panic because it was so close and I felt like if I lost I would feel sick for a few years,” Brecel recalls . ‘It was a golden opportunity to win it and luckily I did it. I was just so relieved. In the last frame I was very nervous, but I felt like I was in control. Every shot felt like a tournament win. It was crazy.’

Now Brecel wants that feeling again. No Crucible champion has ever retained their title.

Asked if he can break the Crucible curse, he added: “I haven’t had the best season but I feel like I could play well this year too. I’m really looking forward to it. I would like to win it again.’

He’d probably love a few more supercars too.

VIEW SHORT – 2024 World Snooker Championship. Start: 10am, the Crucible, Sheffield. TV: LIVE on BBC and Eurosport. Final: May 5-6.