Snooker maverick Luca Brecel pulls out of second major event as he hangs out with girlfriend and wears bizarre mask
The 2023 world champion, 30, dropped out of the British Open qualifiers in Leicester on Wednesday.
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Brecel failed to show in the East Midlands for his match with Alexander Ursenbacher.
It comes just days after he failed to turn up for a similar event ahead of the Wuhan Open.
A brief statement from the World Snooker Tour read: "Luca Brecel has withdrawn from this week's British Open qualifiers and been replaced in the draw by Ashley Carty.
"Brecel was due to face Alexander Ursenbacher on Wednesday afternoon but has decided to pull out.
"Carty is the highest available player from the Q School top-up list."
Brecel is currently enjoying a summer holiday with new flame Shawney Demuyter.
He appeared to be out of the country on Sunday as he went out for pizza and drinks with his beau.
On Tuesday, the day before his scheduled match with Ursenbacher, Brecel uploaded a snap of himself wearing a bizarre mask on Instagram.
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He followed it with snaps of him wearing a pink hat and a giant black wig.
He captioned the picture: "Bad hair day."
The Belgian Bullet has slipped down to number 39 in the world rankings, with his form collapsing since his world title win two years ago.
Legendary snooker star Steven Hendry said of Brecel: "He's fallen off a cliff. What a great player, though.
"It's very frustrating for me to watch someone who is so talented [not perform].
"He's still in his 20s, and could play still for the next 10, 15 years, win so many tournaments, earn so much money... [but he] doesn't seem interested."
Brecel had been set to play in next month's Championship League.
But he has already withdrawn from that event.
Brecel has previously dubbed himself the "Ronaldinho of snooker" thanks to his fast-paced and risk-taking style.
The maverick told Midnite: "I just don't really think a lot about winning tournaments and stuff like that. I just like playing the game.
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