'I'm the Ronaldinho of snooker - I'm not bothered about winning World Championship'

Former has insisted that his focus at the Crucible is not on winning his second title. Instead, he is looking to 'entertain' fans with his style of play.

The Belgian came close to losing his tour card earlier this season and will need a strong showing in the Crucible to prevent him from falling even further down the world rankings.

Brecel impressed when winning the World Championship in 2023, beating Mark Selby 18-15 in the final to become Belgium's first world champion, but has struggled since his success in Sheffield. Questions have been raised about his performances previously, but Brecel remains unfazed as he is focusing on entertaining the crowd rather than grinding out results.

Speaking to Midnite, the 30-year-old labelled himself as snooker's version of Ronaldinho, the ex-Barcelona and Brazil footballer who went down in history as one of the most skilful and eye-catching players to ever grace a football pitch.

He said: "I just don't really think a lot about winning tournaments and stuff like that. I just like playing the game. I'm more of a Ronaldinho type of player in snooker, so it's all about just entertaining and fun! And also having a nice life around it, that's more important to me! So yeah, no pressure."

With Brecel not prioritising his performances, the Belgium Bullet went on to add that he has not even thought about winning a second world championship. He continued "I've not really thought about the possibility of winning a second world title. I'm not that interested in it. If it happens it happens, but if it doesn't, then it's all good.

"I'm always going to be an outsider. If I play well, then anything can happen, you know, but I can also lose easily in the first round. That's just my game because I play really attacking, but if it works then I can win it.

"I feel much more experienced coming in as a past winner but less pressure as well. It is going to be difficult to win the tournament but I'm playing well and we'll see how it goes." Brecel will kickstart his World Championship campaign against Ryan Day on Wednesday, and he could go on to face Trump in the third round of the competition if both players avoid an early exit.