Luca Brecel vs Ding Junhui Preview & Prediction | 2025 World Snooker Championship | Second Round
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We have an intriguing second-round encounter at the Crucible on Saturday as Luca Brecel and Ding Junhui meet for a place in the quarter-finals
Start date/time: Saturday 26th April, 2025: UK – 7:00pm / US ET – 2:00pm / US PT – 11:00am
How to watch on TV: UK – BBC & TNT Sports / US – Not televised
How to watch online: UK – BBC iPlayer, BBC Sport website & discovery+ / US – Cannot be streamed
Tickets: Visit here for the latest ticket information
Luca Brecel vs Ding Junhui prediction
2023 champion Luca Brecel had to do it the hard way in his first-round match against Welshman Ryan Day as after going 1-5 down to his opponent, the Belgian reeled off nine of the next 11 frames to win 10-7 to set up this clash with Ding Junhui.
It was a break of 104 in the seventh frame that kicked Brecel into gear and despite being outscored (806-894, 3x 50+ breaks compared to 7 for Day), he grafted his way to victory.
He now takes on China’s Ding Junhui who has had a miserable run at the World Championships in recent seasons having exited in the first round in each of the last four. Prior to that, he had quite the record however so he will be hoping to rekindle the magic and lean on those experiences.
He beat Zak Surety in the first round 10-7 in a match he was always in front in but was probably closer than he would have liked.
He now faces Brecel who is a familiar foe having played each other nine times previously. Junhui has dominated those previous meetings winning eight of them but Brecel broke the hoodoo last time out winning 4-3 in the Scottish Open last year.
We do favour Junhui in this one however to get the win. He has better consistency in his play and we expect him to get the win over the longer format. Brecel did well to win his opening match but he has some way to go if he is to beat somebody of Junhui’s calibre.
Luca Brecel vs Ding Junhui tip: Ding Junhui to win
