Former world snooker champion Luca Brecel FORGETS CODE to cue case before rival comes to rescue at Scottish Open

LUCA BRECEL'S snooker season threatened to go from bad to downright comical were it not for the shock intervention of a rival.

The 2023 world champion has struggled to find his groove on the table this season.

This poor form has led to fears the Belgian cueist could be axed from the World Snooker Tour.

However, Brecel, 29, was almost left red-faced after FORGETTING the code to open his cue case before his clash with compatriot Julien Leclercq in the opening round of the Scottish Open.

And he was almost forced to play with no cue before Stuart Bingham swooped in to save the day ahead of a must-win game for The Belgian Bullet.

Brecel revealed how Ball Run had managed to crack the code for this case, saving him from having to break the case open.

Speaking to Brecel said: "He (Bingham) cracked the code.

"I thought it was 009 to open the lock, but it turned out it was 000. So everyone knows the code now!

"It was Stuart Bingham to the rescue. If he didn't get the code, we were going to have to break it open.

"That match was probably the most pressure I've felt since winning the World Championship.

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"I had to win that game, just for myself, because I have been playing well when practising.

"I think I brought it to the match table today."

Brecel ended up winning the game 4-3, with the World No.7 mounting a comeback from 3-2 down to triumph.

He then followed this up with a more convincing 4-1 win over Yuelong Zhou.

His next opponent is Junhui Ding at 1pm today.

While Stephen Hendry called out Brecel for his "awful" form, Ronnie O'Sullivan - who pulled out of the Scottish Open just hours before his first game - offered his rival some advice.

The Rocket, who himself has struggled recently, said: "A happy person is normally a happy snooker player, but you have got to put the work in.

"Even Usain Bolt had to put a lot of training in if he wanted to win medals, and he is probably the most talented, gifted specimen of a sportsman there has ever been.

"But if you watch his documentary, he worked really hard. If he didn't, he would not win, and that applies to everybody. Luca has to make his own mind up and where he wants to go in the game.

"The one thing I will say is rankings are not that important. When you have that amount of talent, if you decide to put the work in, you will win tournaments.

"The ball is in his court and only Luca can make those decisions."

Bingham, 48, has also progressed past two opponents to reach the last 16, with his game taking place at 9pm against Lei Peifan.

You can follow all of the snooker action from Edinburgh with SunSport's live blog here.