Sawt Falasteen - Belgian bar owner 'pinching himself' at Brecel World Championship final

Brecel was leading 9-8 in the best of 35 contest against four-time champion Mark Selby, before play resumed at Sheffield's Crucible Theatre.

Despite being led by the 28-year-old Belgian, Englishman Selby on Sunday became the first player to compile a maximum 147 break in a world championship final.

Brecel has had a remarkable run to the final, coming back to beat China's Si Jiahui by winning 11 frames in a row.

He became was the first player in Crucible history to overturn a nine-frame deficit and the victory took him into his first world final, having never previously progressed beyond the first round.

In the last eight, he overcame seven-time winner Ronnie O'Sullivan after winning seven straight frames.

Brecel began playing when he was eight in the town of Maasmechelen, near the Dutch border, to the north of Maastricht.

"Luca started snooker with us in Maasmechelen with my son Stephanos. He was eight years old, my son was 10," the owner of the Snooker Sports bar, Georgios Poulios, told AFP, perched on his bar in front of photos of Brecel.

Asked how it felt to see Brecel on TV in the world final, Poulios said: "I have to pinch myself."

Brecel, ranked 10th in the world, turned professional at 16 and made his debut at the Crucible as a teenager.

"I quickly realised that Lucas had something different about him," Poulios said.

"About six months after starting, he was better than the adults in the club," he added.

Maasmechelen is the same town where Brighton winger Leandro Trossard hails from.

Before the quarter-final, shaven-headed Brecel created a stir by saying he had been "drunk as hell" and explained that leading up to the tournament he had stayed up late playing video games and not practising with his cue.

After the victory over O'Sullivan he was praised by "The Rocket", who is widely considered the sport's best ever player.

"He's such a dynamic player, probably the most talented snooker player I've ever seen," O'Sullivan said.

"I'd love to see him go and win it because that's how snooker should be played.

"He's a phenomenal talent and player," he added.

Brecel, whose both arms and hands are adorned with tattoos including one of American rapper The Game, still returns to see Poulios and his bar in the town of 39,000 people.

"But to play darts," Poulios said. "Because snooker practice happens at home for him, on his own table."

X.AbuJaber--SF-PST