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After his incredible victory at the World Snooker Championship this year, life was always going to change dramatically for Luca Brecel and he admits that is proving difficult to deal with.<\/p>\n
The 28-year-old had never won a match at the Crucible before this year, then surged to the title, beating the likes of Ronnie O\u2019Sullivan, Mark Selby and Mark Williams along the way.<\/p>\n
A professional for over a decade and a three-time ranking event winner before that Crucible crown, it wasn\u2019t overnight success, but the world title did fire the Belgian Bullet into a new level of fame.<\/p>\n
One of the more relaxed and chilled out characters you will meet in professional sport, Brecel admits the huge rise in attention has even been getting to him, making it hard to concentrate on his snooker.<\/p>\n
\u2018It\u2019s so busy for me now, it\u2019s crazy,\u2019 Brecel told Metro.co.uk<\/strong>. \u2018After I won the Worlds the next six weeks were not so busy actually. I was like, is this it? And then after 8-10 weeks it started coming: the interviews, exhibitions, all sorts of requests and so much attention. <\/p>\n \u2018I didn\u2019t expect it because I thought it was gone after the Worlds but now it\u2019s just crazy. It\u2019s too much for me, actually. <\/p>\n \u2018That\u2019s why it\u2019s tough for me to focus or get up for this one [the English Open], or for any tournament really. It\u2019s really, really tough, I need to say to myself not to miss this opportunity to play well or win a tournament. I\u2019m just way too busy.\u2019<\/p>\n Brecel was speaking after narrowly beating teenager Stan Moody 4-3 in the opening round of the English Open, relieved to win after not finding anything like his best form.<\/p>\n He explained that it is not just his time that he is finding tricky to manage since the world title win, but also that of his family and girlfriend.<\/p>\n \u2018It\u2019s everything, from everywhere, every day, something new,\u2019 he said. \u2018I say no to 50 per cent, so if I would do everything I would explode, I think. <\/p>\n \u2018It\u2019s trying to find the balance, also for my girlfriend and family because they get sucked into it and I don\u2019t want that. I want them to have their own life and life with me. So it is tough finding a balance, I must say for me and my partner, but we\u2019re trying to work it out. <\/p>\n \u2018I\u2019m a world champion now and this is the year I have to try and make the most of that.<\/p>\n \u2018It comes from everywhere, but Belgium, yeah it is big. A lot of TV requests, interviews in newspapers, a lot of fun things, it\u2019s good I do love doing it. Podcasts with famous people in Belgium, all over the world, Hong Kong, USA to play snooker, Canada, everywhere. It is a maybe too much but enjoyable also.\u2019<\/p>\n Brecel may be feeling the strain off the table, but is not bothered by pressure on the baize, in fact he reckons he could do with more intensity in his games.<\/p>\n His remarkable victory in Sheffield has accomplished such a huge life goal that he now sees many games as a free hit, which is not necessarily a good thing.<\/p>\n \u2018I feel less pressure [since winning the Worlds]. The monkey is off my back,\u2019 he said. \u2018I always wanted to win the Worlds and I have done it, then straight away I got to the Shanghai Masters final so that was confirmation of playing well and having improved. <\/p>\n \u2018Now it feels like practice, I come here and there\u2019s absolutely no pressure. For me there\u2019s not much pressure but sometimes that\u2019s a bad thing because it\u2019s hard to get up for these games, it sounds stupid but it really is. <\/p>\n \u2018I need that buzz sometimes to get going, I only get it when I\u2019m in the last 16 or quarter-final, I start going, but it\u2019s something I need to learn or work on because I could have easily lost today, I should have lost actually. But it\u2019s really tough mentally, this game sometimes.\u2019<\/p>\n![](\"https:\/\/metro.co.uk\/wp-content\/themes\/metro-parent\/img\/fallback.png\")
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