Brecel number one hopes halted by Ding defeat

Ronnie O'Sullivan beat Luca Brecel in the recent Shanghai Masters final

Luca Brecel's hopes of taking over from Ronnie O'Sullivan as snooker world number one were halted with a defeat by Ding Junhui at the British Open.

But the 28-year-old Belgian suffered a 4-3 loss against China's Ding in the first round.

Medical reasons mean O'Sullivan is not playing at the ranking tournament at the Centaur in Cheltenham.

Brecel had recovered from 3-0 down to draw level with Ding but lost the decider.

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