‘Schoolboy’: Luca Brecel accused of ‘unforgivable’ mistake in Ronnie O’Sullivan defeat

The Belgian produced both the superb and the dreadful in his Masters first round exit at Alexandra Palace

Ronnie O’Sullivan on his way to defeating Luca Brecel (PA)

Luca Brecel was accused of making a “schoolboy” mistake after going down 6-1 to Ronnie O’Sullivan to exit the Masters in the first round.

The Belgian’s initial error came in the second frame but he then unravelled in the third frame with what has been described as “unforgivable” by the legendary Jimmy White.

After excellent control to nudge the brown into play off the cushion in the second, Brecel lost position after potting the brown, leaving ‘The Rocket’ to eventually clean up and move two clear.

And it only got worse with Brecel’s magical shot-making in the third followed by a shocking error that saw him pot the cue ball after draining the blue.

O’Sullivan would prove ruthless and run away with the match from then on, leaving Eurosport pundits Jimmy White and Alan McManus to deliver a scathing review of Brecel’s performance.

“This in-off [potting the cue ball] for an established match player that Luca is, he should never do that. That puts him 13 in front with pink and black left. To go in-off is unforgivable,” White said on Eurosport.

“Make no mistake, no one else in the top 16 would probably have given that chance away. Luca for me, he lacks a bit of playing the right shot at the right time.

“He’s a bit flamboyant, he didn’t really take notice of how important that shot was. You’ve got to get a game on the board. It was a strange miss.”

While McManus added: “He had an acre of space to play on. The middle pocket has always been there. It’s a bit of a schoolboy error.”