Luca Brecel bounces back from walkout woe to complete first win of season in Northern Ireland Open qualifying

Luca Brecel got his season up and running with a 4-0 victory over Liam Davies in qualifying for the Northern Ireland Open on Sunday. Only four days after quitting his Xi'an Grand Prix qualifier with Sunny Akani, trailing 2-0 after citing issues with his cue, the 2023 world champion looked more assured in completing his first win of the new campaign. He will face Stephen Maguire in the last 64.

Luca lands lucky long-ranger as he gets season up and running

Video credit: TNT Sports

Luca Brecel finished with breaks of 79 and 52 to complete a 4-0 whitewash of world No. 74 Liam Davies on Sunday in booking his trip to the Northern Ireland Open in Belfast.

The 2023 world champion enjoyed his first win of the season at Leicester's Mattioli Arena, the venue where he lost 5-0 to Sunny Akani in Xi'an Grand Prix qualifying on Tuesday after bizarrely quitting mid-match.

Trailing Thailand's world No. 74 Akani 2-0 and 40-1 in the third frame on Tuesday, Brecel, who has dropped to 41st in the rankings, opted to quit the match, citing problems with his cue as the reason for his premature concession.

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It came after he failed to appear for his Wuhan Open qualifier with Haris Tahir in June and opted out of the British Open qualifiers before skipping the Saudi Arabia Masters in Jeddah, where he was due to meet Sanderson Lam in the round of 80 last month.

But the Belgian's qualifying win over Welsh hopeful Davies earns him a meeting with former UK champion Stephen Maguire in the last 64 of the season's second Home Nations Series event next month (October 19-26) live on TNT Sports and discovery+.

Watch extraordinary moment Brecel quits mid-match at Xi'an Grand Prix

Video credit: TNT Sports

Meanwhile, former Welsh Open winner Robert Milkins boosted his hope of avoiding losing his tour card at the end of the season with a 4-2 win over Patrick Whelan in booking his trip to Belfast and a meeting with Mark Allen.

Milkins has dropped to 53 in the world and is 54th in the end-of-season ranking list, 29,800 points above the cut-off point of 64 that would force a return to Q School to regain his spot on the main tour.

Former world semi-finalist Anthony McGill is in a similar boat to Milkins after a series of reverses, but the world No. 58 finished with knocks of 64 and 88 to secure his spot in Belfast where he will face world No. 1 Judd Trump in the last 64.