RONNIE O’SULLIVAN has suggested that Luca Brecel tries to follow in the footsteps of Olympic legend Usain Bolt.
Brecel, 29, won the World Snooker Championship in 2023, but since then, his form has taken a massive dip.
The Belgian cueman is currently ranked 61st in the provisional end-of-season rankings.
His drop in form has seen his spot on the tour come under threat.
And O’Sullivan says Brecel needs to “put the work in” to get back to his best.
The Rocket told Eurosport: “A happy person is normally a happy snooker player, but you have got to put the work in.
“Even Usain Bolt had to put a lot of training in if he wanted to win medals, and he is probably the most talented, gifted specimen of a sportsman there has ever been.
“But if you watch his documentary, he worked really hard.
“If he didn’t, he would not win, and that applies to everybody. Luca has to make his own mind up and where he wants to go in the game.
“The one thing I will say is rankings are not that important.
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“When you have that amount of talent, if you decide to put the work in, you will win tournaments.
“The ball is in his court and only Luca can make those decisions.”
By Rob Maul
IF YOU became a world champion of your sport and pocketed £500,000 prize money, how exactly would you celebrate?
Maybe buy a nice car. Treat the missus. Go on a lavish holiday perhaps.
Well, Luca Brecel has done all of that and more – put simply, he’s had the time of his life over these past 12 months.
The Belgian Bullet was crowned King of Sheffield in May 2023 in remarkable fashion, despite no practice and having never won a match at the venue on previous visits.
Brecel immediately splash £250,000, half of his World Champs earnings, on a stunning red Ferrari 488 – which he admits he NEVER drives.
He has since lived the high life, exploring the globe with his girlfriend Laura, piling on the pounds with some fine dining and hangout out with an Arsenal star.
He even lost his Crucible-winning cue.
Find out more about Brecel’s incredible year…
Brecel is currently travelling to and from events from Mallorca and Stephen Hendry has claimed that snooker can not be the star’s “priority”.
He told The Express: “As a snooker player, I cannot buy into what he’s doing.
“Flying in from Majorca between matches as he did during the Northern Irish Open and stuff.
“But then, I don’t know what his priorities in life are. Maybe snooker isn’t his priority anymore, and you’ve got to respect that.
“If that’s what he wants to do, that’s it. You could criticise if he wants to win snooker tournaments, because that’s not the way to do it.
“But if he’s not bothered whether he wins or lose, if he wants to do this Ironman stuff and play snooker as a hobby, then good luck to him.”
BELOW is a list of snooker World Champions by year.
The record is for the modern era, widely considered as dating from the 1968-69 season, when the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association (WPBSA) took control of the sport.
The first World Championships ran from 1927 – with a break from 1941-45 because of World War II and 1958-63 because of a dispute in the sport.
Joe Davis (15), Fred Davis and John Pulman (both 8) were the most successful players during that period.
Stephen Hendry and Ronnie O’Sullivan share the record for the most titles in the modern era, with seven each.
Most World Titles (modern era)
