Luca Brecel vs Ryan Day Preview & Prediction | 2025 World Snooker Championship | First Round

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Experienced cueist Ryan Day takes on 2023 champion Luca Brecel in the first round at the Crucible.

Start date/time: Wednesday 23rd April, 2025: UK – 2:30pm / US ET – 9:30am / US PT – 6:30am

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 Ryan Day prediction

It’s fair to say that Luca Brecel hasn’t kicked on since he won the World Snooker Championship in sensational style in 2023, as he has failed to win a single tournament – ranking or otherwise – since that success.

This season, the Belgian reached the final of December’s Riyadh Season Snooker Championship, while more recently he was a semi-finalist at the Welsh Open in February, showing some promising signs of a potential return to form.

World number 36 Ryan Day is featuring in the sport’s flagship event for the 16th time in his career after coming through two rounds of qualifying last week.

The Welshman has been unable to make much of a dent in any event this year, although he does have some fond memories of the Crucible having made the quarter-finals three times in a four-year stretch between 2008 and 2012.

If Brecel plays anywhere close to his best then he should be winning this, but it is difficult to know what to expect from the laid-back Belgian. With Day a highly experienced opponent, it is unlikely to be straightforward for the former world champion, so expect there to be over 16.5 frames

Luca Brecel vs Ryan Day tip: Over 16.5 frames