Former world champion Stuart Bingham can bring to an end Luca Brecel’s hopes of home victory at the European Masters in Lommel. Belgium is staging its first ever ranking tournament title this week and home favourite Brecel has given the locals plenty to cheer already, coming through tense deciding frames in his first two matches against Sam Craigie and Thor Chuan Leong. He now has a remarkable record in final frames this season, having won all of the nine he has appeared in.
Brecel overcame Chris Wakelin 4-1 as he stepped up his bid to claim ranking silverware on home soil and he will be full of confidence having won his maiden title at the recent China Championship but Bingham could be a blocker on his hopes in Lommel. The 2015 Crucible champion was in terrific form as he disposed of another former world champion in Scotland’s Graeme Dott on Wednesday in the last-32. Bingham compiled breaks of 62 and 116 on his way to a 4-0 whitewash with Dott amassing a mere 34 points in the match.
Bingham is favourite at 4/6 for Thursday evening’s best-of-seven clash, while Brecel is 23/20 to advance into the quarter-finals. The chance of a potential last-eight joust with world champion and world number one Mark Selby should spur both Bingham and Brecel in this encounter. Bingham is capable of more devastating bouts of scoring than Brecel and that can sway this game in his favour. The Englishman is an excellent break builder whereas at times already this week Brecel has looked shaky in closing the deal. Bingham can end the Belgian’s hopes on home soil with a 4-1 win, priced at 17/4.
European Masters odds available at Dafabet.