World Snooker Championship 2023: Luca Brecel leads Mark Williams, Neil Robertson level with Jak Jones

Luca Brecel reeled off five straight frames to lead his World Championship second round match with three-time champion Mark Williams 9-7, while Neil Robertson fought back from a jittery start to end his first session with Jak Jones level at 4-4.

Despite his hot streak, Brecel was left to rue a missed opportunity to open up a 10-6 advantage as he broke down on 51 in the final frame of the session, allowing Williams to return and produce one of the clearances of the tournament to stay within touching distance.

The pair will play to a finish in the best-of-25 encounter from 19:00 BST with a spot in the quarter-finals on the line. Brecel has not beaten Williams in five previous meetings.

Returning at 4-4, the match started at a frenetic pace as ambitious pot attempts became the norm amid some lax safety play.

Brecel married brilliance with the bizarre as he gifted Williams openings to take the first two frames for a 6-4 lead. “It’s just concentration,” bemoaned 1986 world champion Joe Johnson on Eurosport commentary after Brecel missed a simple shot, moments after lighting up the famous theatre with some excellent potting.

But concentrate Brecel belatedly did and the momentum swung in his favour in the 11th frame. The Belgian made a brilliant 113 break, albeit not without occasional scolding from Johnson, as he closed within one.

His luck improved too. A woeful safety shot at the start of the 12th inadvertently flicked off the black and into the pocket and although his break soon ended, Brecel was soon back at the table and compiling another century to draw level at 6-6 at the interval.

A stunning pot into the middle pocket while tucked up on the cushion teed up another blistering break from Brecel upon the resumption, this time a 66, as he took the lead for the first time in the session.

If Williams was concerned, he showed no visible sign as he duly set about a response in the 14th frame. But he broke down on 24 – scant reward for such fine shot-making – and the tempo suddenly was sucked from the match. A lengthy and intriguing safety battle was eventually won by Brecel, who opened up a two-frame lead for the first time in the match.

Brecel rediscovered his potting groove in the next as a brilliant 80 knock moved him 9-6 ahead before Williams showed all his class to deliver a response in the final frame and end a run of five frames without reply.

On the other side of the Crucible arena screen, fans opening for a fluent opening to the Robertson-Jones match were left disappointed by the fare on offer in frame one, as both players struggled to locate their best form.

It took around 40 minutes for it to be concluded, with Jones finally forcing Robertson into conceding after the Australian missed the final red when trying to extricate himself from a snooker.

Jones had certainly settled the quicker, and he strode into the lead in the next after Robertson missed a tricky red to the centre. The Welshman progressed serenely thereafter and compiled a wonderful 122 to double his advantage.

It was more of the same in the next as Robertson missed another red – this time from range – and Jones, again, cashed in, requiring two visits but ultimately taking it to lead 3-0.

In a sign of how little table time Robertson had seen, the Australian came back to the table with the frame well out of reach, just to pot some balls from green onwards.

That didn’t immediately look like a turning point as Jones got a lead in the next and looked set to take a 4-0 lead into the interval, but he missed a straightforward red which gave Robertson an easy starter.

And the 2010 world champion belatedly showed his form of the first round as he rattled in a clearance of 89 to leave matters poised at 3-1 as the players departed the arena for the mid-session interval.

The momentum had shifted as the players returned, with Jones now the man confined to his chair as Robertson got in again in frame five, hitting a 95 to get back to within one of his opponent at 3-2.

But Jones, playing in the second round at the World Championship for the first time, moved back two clear in the next as he showed commendable resilience to compile an impressive 77, only missing another century by going in off the yellow.

Robertson, though, dug in, and he managed to land the final two frames – both bitty, mistake-laden affairs – to leave the tie finely balanced at 4-4. A much better scoreline than Robertson could’ve hoped for when staring down the barrel early on.

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