Luca Brecel suffers another shock early exit to world No. 123 Liu Wenwei as Ken Doherty stuns Stan Moody in International Championship qualifiers
Published 01/10/2025 at 09:51 GMT+1
The International Championship qualifiers are being staged at Ponds Forge in Sheffield, but it was not a happy return to the city for 2023 world champion Luca Brecel, who suffered a shock 6-4 loss to world No. 123 Liu Wenwei late on Tuesday night. There was better news for Brecel's fellow Crucible winners Mark Williams, Mark Selby, Kyren Wilson and Ken Doherty, who all secured spots in China.
Robertson hits 1000th century to join exclusive club
Video credit: TNT Sports
Luca Brecel suffered another early season setback at the International Championship qualifiers in Sheffield as the 2023 world champion lost 6-4 to world No. 123 Liu Wenwei on Tuesday night.
Brecel enjoyed a run to the quarter-finals of the English Open in Brentwood last month, losing 5-4 to Zhou Yuelong in the last eight in a season blighted by a lack of consistency.
The player dubbed the 'Belgian Bullet' 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 round three last month.
Brecel then opted to quit his best-of-nine frame qualifier at the Xi'an Grand Prix, trailing world No. 74 Sunny Akani 2-0 and 40-1 in the third frame, citing issues with his cue as the reason behind the walkout.
He did qualify for the Northern Ireland Open in Belfast later this month with a 4-0 whitewash of Liam Davies to set up a last-64 meeting with Stephen Maguire, but remains ranked 40th in the world from a career high of two after his 18-15 win over Mark Selby in the Crucible final two years ago.
Brecel has aired health concerns in recent weeks, revealing to newspaper reporters that he had sought medical help from doctors regarding issues with fatigue.
/origin-imgresizer.tntsports.io/2025/09/02/image-79403ce1-7a0a-4b05-ad1a-55bfdb3149ee-85-2560-1440.jpeg)
Watch extraordinary moment Brecel quits mid-match at Xi'an Grand Prix
Video credit: TNT Sports
"Some people have come up to me and said ‘oh, is it mental health’ and they have tried to help," he said.
"It’s not my head. I’m perfectly happy. I’m fine. It’s not mental.
"It’s physical things in my body. Strange. I’ve been to the doctor many, many times. Maybe 18 times in three to four months.
Meanwhile, 1997 world champion Ken Doherty rolled back the years with a shock 6-5 win over in-form former world junior champion Stan Moody - fresh from his run to the British Open quarter-finals - to book his trip to Nanjing.
Doherty led 5-3 against the 19-year-old Halifax player, but despite being pegged back to 5-5 in a match that produced eight 50+ breaks, it was the Irishman who held his nerve to dominate the decider.
His reward is a meeting with Neil Robertson, who produced his 1,000th career century in a 6-1 win over Umut Dikme, in the last 64.
There were also victories for Mark Selby, Kyren Wilson and Mark Williams on Tuesday as they began their quest for the £175,000 first prize with some fine scoring form.
Two-time winner Selby whitewashed Steven Hallworth 6-0 with top breaks of 124 and 131, Wilson overcame Gong Chenzhi 6-2, boosted by a 100, with Williams making 113 in a 6-2 win over Iulian Boiko.
Elsewhere, last week's British Open finalist Anthony McGill, who lost 10-7 to Shaun Murphy in the title match in Cheltenham on Sunday night, enjoyed a winning return to action with a 6-0 win over women's world No. 1 Mink Nutcharut.
McGill's next assignment in the second round is a meeting with Williams.
The International Championship, which will be staged by the Chinese city of Nanjing between November 2-9, is live on TNT Sports and discovery+.
Seven-time world champion Ronnie O'Sullivan - who has opted out of the Wuhan Open, English Open and British Open - is due to begin his campaign at the International Championship against Allan Taylor.
- O'Sullivan drops Masters bombshell as superstar admits: 'I probably won't play in it this year'
- Watch: Robertson sees funny side of joining exclusive 1,000 century club in surreal scenes
- Can Murphy get back to 'Trump, Selby, Robertson level'?
International Championship qualifiers
- Martin O'Donnell 6-5 Xu Yichen
- Liu Wenwei 6-4 Luca Brecel
- Ken Doherty 6-5 Stan Moody
- Mark Williams 6-2 Iulian Boiko
- Anthony McGill 6-0 Mink Nutcharut
- Fan Zhengyi 6-1 Hatem Yassen
- Kyren Wilson 6-2 Gong Chenzhi
- David Lilley 6-3 Chatchapong Nasa
- Ben Woollaston 6-3 Cheung Ka Wai
- Ben Mertens 6-3 Matthew Selt
- Jak Jones 6-1 Mateusz Baranowski
- Mark Selby 6-0 Steven Hallworth
- Lyu Haotian 6-1 Ng On Yee
- Jack Lisowski 6-2 Bulcsu Revesz
- Jiang Jun 6-4 Long Zehuang
- John Higgins 6-5 Liam Pullen
- Xu Si 6-3 Sahil Nayyar
- Wang Yuchen 6-5 Robert Milkins
- Si Jiahui 6-3 Sunny Akani
- Yuan Sijun 6-2 Julien Leclercq
- Neil Robertson 6-1 Umut Dikme
- - -
Watch and stream top snooker action, including the Xi’an Grand Prix, live and on demand on TNT Sports and discovery+
Related Topics
Advertisement
Advertisement