Luca Brecel out of World Open due to medical reasons; top 16 place in jeopardy

2023 World Champion Brecel reached the semi-finals of the Welsh Open in Llandudno last week; the first time he had appeared in the last four of a ranking tournament since his Crucible success.

However, early on in what was a 6-3 defeat to eventual title winner Mark Selby at the Venue Cymru, Brecel took a medical time-out after frame one because he was suffering with a migraine. The Belgian returned around 15 minutes later and managed to play on, even leading his opponent 3-2 at one point before going out.

It is unclear whether this is the reason Brecel has withdrawn from the £825,000 ranking event; the competition is in Yushan, located in the east of China, and is a very long trek for players travelling from Western Europe.

Four-time ranking event winner Brecel - who won his maiden ranking trophy in China in 2017 - had already won his first round match in the 2025 World Open, qualifying for the main venue with a 5-3 victory over Iulian Boiko at Ponds Forge in Sheffield just before Christmas.

Brecel's scheduled second round opponent Tian Pengfei - who is battling for pro tour survival at the end of this season - gets a bye into the last 32, where he is guaranteed to collect at least £9,000.

The withdrawal is likely to be frustrating for Brecel, who has had a real upturn in performances and results over the past few months.

The 29-year-old made the quarter-finals of the Scottish Open in Edinburgh before reaching the final of the Riyadh Season Snooker Championship in Saudi Arabia - the latter run representing back-to-back final appearances in that invitational event.

Last week by the seaside, Brecel won four matches as he progressed to the semis at the Welsh Open.

Had Brecel defeated Selby, he would have qualified for next month's 2025 World Grand Prix on the Player Series in Hong Kong which features the top 32 ranked players from the one-year list. Brecel is the only member of the world's current top 24 who did not make the cut for that event.

Withdrawing from the World Open means that Brecel can not qualify for either the Players or Tour Championship - the final two legs of the Players Series. Therefore, his next action is set to be at the Crucible for the 2025 World Championship in April - a two-month wait.

Due to the rolling two-year world ranking list, Brecel will still be inside the top 16 when the worlds comes around, meaning he will be a seed and does not need to qualify. However, he will be ‘defending’ £500,000 at the blue riband spectacular, as this will be removed from his cumulative world ranking total following the conclusion.

On the end-of-season provisional ranking list, Brecel is 43rd, which is actually a far better position than a few weeks ago when his top 64 and tour place were in jeopardy.

But on that list, Brecel is over £200,000 behind 16th placed Jak Jones, meaning he will need to win the 2025 World Championship in order to maintain his top 16 spot.

O'Sullivan - who has not played on the World Snooker Tour since breaking his cue at the Championship League Invitational in early January - withdrew from next week's World Open on Tuesday.

Like Brecel and O'Sullivan, Ricky Walden has also withdrawn due to medical reasons - presumably linked with the operation to remove his gallbladder, an issue that forced him out mid-event at the recent German Masters where he was hospitalised.

Chris Totten will also not be in Yushan, although it has not been said the reason why.