JET-SETTING Luca Brecel has thanked Leandro Trossard for giving him advice on the top continental private plane firm to book.
The Belgian Bullet, 30, is close pals with the Arsenal winger, also 30, and will be rooting for him tomorrow night in the first leg of the .
On Saturday afternoon, from Belgium to the UK on the day of his last 16 Crucible match with Ding Junhui.
The set off from Maastricht in Holland and landed at East Midlands Airport at 3.17pm.
From there he jumped in a car for the hour-long journey up to Sheffield but he was cutting it fine with the flying, especially if there had been an issue with weather or a no-land order by airport control officials.
rented the aircraft for the 68-minute flight because he wanted to spend Friday night in his own bed in Maasmechelen.
His arrival on English soil was only three-and-a-half hours before he faced Ding in the first session but it did not affect his display – he led 7-1 by the close of play.
Brecel flew with his father Carlo on a C510 Cessna Citation Mustang, which seats up to four passengers and has a cruising speed of 630km/h and a flying range of up to 1500 kilometres.
The world No.7 ended up beating Ding 13-4 on Monday night – – and he has earned £50,000 for reaching the quarter-finals.
Yet a large portion of that dosh has gone towards the 350-mile journey.
Brecel won his first-round win 10-7 over Ryan Day last Thursday afternoon but decided against staying in South Yorkshire.
He had alerted fans to his crazy plan on Friday by posting on Instagram: “I’ve got a private flight booked to Sheffield tomorrow at 15:00, anyone from Belgium who wants to join? DM me.”;
Brecel explained his madcap actions, saying: “I don’t like to hang around too long.
“I always try to get here as late as possible. Even today, I came here 15 minutes before the game.
“That has always been my way. As long as it works, it’s good.
“I just booked it the day before. Obviously, I know Trossard from . He arranged it for me.
“That was quite easy. He gave me the number and I fixed it. I’m not going to say the price.
“If there’s a delay, there’s a delay. I left enough time, I guess, to get here.
“I’m not sure if I’m playing as good as 2023 but I’m more relaxed and not so worried about winning the title because when I got to the final, I felt it was a golden chance.
“I feel like I can get back there and win it again. Not that much pressure. It’s not taking too much energy out of me – yet.”;
Had he been late for the 7pm start on Saturday, he would have been docked at least one frame – and if he had been really delayed, he could have been disqualified.
This has happened before this season – embarrassingly, on July 26 for a no-show.
Brecel was stuck in heavy traffic last summer and missed the scheduled clash with Hammad Miah in Leicester.
So the Englishman was given a walkover win into the main draw of the second Chinese event of the season – while Brecel missed out on the £177,000 top prize.
