Luca Brecel faces the dreaded Crucible curse but can the Belgian Bullet break it?

The home of the World Snooker Championship is a cursed building but Luca Brecel has the chance to lift the evil spell that lingers over the Sheffield theatre over the next 17 days.

Every first time winner of the World Championship at the Crucible has returned the next year and failed to retain the title, all they way back to 1977 when the event moved to South Yorkshire.

It’s not exactly the most demonic of curses imaginable but it is a bit odd that none of the legendary players that have lifted the famous trophy have managed to win their first and second on the spin.

Some of the defeats have been so surprising that the power of the curse seems undeniable. Steve Davis losing to Tony Knowles in 1982 and Stephen Hendry to Steve James in ’91 are the two that spring to mind.

Brecel now has the chance to do what these greats of the game failed to and it is not clear how much it is on his mind as he prepares for the challenge.

Speaking last month, the Bullet said: ‘Yeah, that is on my mind. Ever since I won it, that has been on my mind. That is a big challenge but it is a nice one.’

However, on the eve of his defence, starting in round one against Dave Gilbert, Brecel told SportsBoom.com: ‘I don’t really care about superstitions like that. It would be really nice to win the title again, however winning it the first time didn’t change my life, so I’m sure a second one wouldn’t either. It would be nice to break the curse and hold another record, but it’s not on my mind.’

Davis, whose defeat to Knowles 42 years ago really sparked off the curse, reckons it may never be broken but if anyone has the game and personality to do it, it may well be Brecel.

‘The likelihood is that it will never be done,’ Davis told Metro. ‘Unless someone comes out of the pack and raises the level to one that is unassailable in the short term, I think this Crucible curse will continue forever. It could well go on for a fair old time.

‘However, funnily enough, if anybody could break the Crucible curse then maybe it is Luca. The way he goes about playing is quite unusual.

‘There is a precedent in Joe Johnson, an unlikely winner of the World Championship and played with a freedom that people would have given their right arm for and nearly did it again in ’87 [reaching the final and losing to Davis].

‘Maybe the way to do it is to not be too uptight coming into the World Championships. If anybody can play with a freedom that can get them over the line it would be Luca. Going back to Belgium in between matches just to chill out was astonishing. Great fun.’

John Virgo also reckons the Bullet has a shot of breaking the curse but is not quite ready to tip him to lift the trophy again.

‘Luca is such a natural, instinctive player,’ Virgo told Metro. ‘He’s had a disappointing season but I was working on the Welsh Open and there were certainly signs there he was coming back to form.

‘You’ve got to remember that Joe Johnson won it in ’86 and got to the final the following year in ’87 and I see a lot of Luca in Joe Johnson. A very inspirational player who found his form at the Crucible, which isn’t the easiest place to play with the two-table situation.

‘I think Luca could defy all those curses, if you like. I give him a big chance, I think he’s got every opportunity to go well in the tournament. To win it, well that’s another matter, but I think he’ll do well. I think his temperament is without question, so that will stand him in good stead, and I think he can put up a good defence of his title.’

Davis suggests there is a huge psychological challenge to overcome having landed the biggest prize in the sport and immediately trying to do it again.

‘It shows it how hard it is to win the World Championship,’ said the six-time champ. ‘It also shows that a first time winner who has climbed that mountain for the first time in their career, they know how hard it was to climb the mountain and then the mountain becomes more overawing.

‘First time round you’re on a journey into the unknown. Second time round you know how hard the journey is. That creates its own level of expectation and that famous word “pressure” whatever that means.’

Shaun Murphy fell to the curse in 2006 and admits that he thought he was going to be the man to break it, while also predicting that the curse will live on beyond 2024.

‘When you look down the list of players who’ve won it, it is bonkers to think that not one of them has defended it the following year,’ the Magician told Metro.

‘Maybe you only have to look at Luca’s Instagram to see the challenges of being world champion, it brings a lot of distractions, he’s had the busiest year he’s ever had. Maybe not on the table, but interviews, requests on his time, loads of things we won’t have seen, loads of stuff he hasn’t done before.

‘It’s very hard to win that Championship and then go and do it again. In ’06 I convinced myself I was going to do it. I got to the quarters and lost to Peter Ebdon who played snooker from the gods that week. I started to fancy the job until the snooker gods put me in my place.

‘I’m going to go out on a limb and say no one’s ever done it and I think that will still be the case in three weeks’ time.’

Brecel’s first hurdle to overcome is Gilbert over two sessions on Saturday morning and evening.

MORE : The Future of the Crucible: Is snooker set to leave the iconic home of the World Championships?

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