LUCA'S CURSE
The Crucible Curse seems to be one of the favourite things about the snooker in the community. It could be because we can't talk about it every year, since we don't have first time world champions every time, but it's really a thing, isn't it?
Interestingly, a few weeks ago people on X (fka Twitter) were discussing whether it's a thing or not. Well, it isn't an actual curse (is it?) but there's definitely a factor that makes it particulary harder to defend a world title at first attempt.
In 47 championships held, 21 different champions have never succeeded in breaking the so-called "Crucible Curse".
So far, 6 of these 21 previous winners have been good enough to win the tournament multiple times. In average, they take 3,5 years to win the second (an average that drops to 2,4 years if we don't consider John Higgins, who's the only multiple champion that took more than 3 years to win his second [he took 9]).
That means whoever is good enough to win more than one, usually gets the second very fast. Yet, there's something about that one year after winning the first that nobody has overcome.
But Luca Brecel really is different. Is it because he's unpredictable and incredibly talented? Yes, but it's not just that. Every run that takes you to the title in Sheffield is historic, but Luca's last year was beyond belief.
And it's not just because of his comeback wins, especially in the semis against Si Jiahui from 5-14 down. To me his biggest achievement was beating both Ronnie O'Sullivan and Mark Selby at the Crucible in the same year.
O'Sullivan and Selby are two titans of the game, but at the Crucible they've been totally dominant since 2012 - 8 titles in 10 finals between them. And for the last 13 years, only twice has the champion not met either O'Sullivan or Selby en route to the title.
That's the dimension of Luca Brecel's achievement last year - he beat the two best Crucible players of the last two decades in the same campaign, deservedly walking away with the trophy. That said, although I don't fancy him to break the Crucible Curse, that wouldn't be the first unprecedent thing he's ever done.
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