Belgian’s Luca Brecel miserable year on the baize continued after he suffered an early exit in the China Championship – the tournament he won last year.

A year ago Brecel wowed the Chinese faithful with attacking snooker at its finest as he won his maiden ranking event in impressive fashion. A new star of the game was born.

However, twelve months on and Brecel has been left to wonder when he will find his best form again as he suffered a shock defeat – meaning the end to his title defence.

The Belgian Bullet, as he is nicknamed, fired off target on Tuesday as he suffered a 5-3 loss to Martin O’Donnell – a player ranked 55 positions below him.

Luca Brecel. Picture: BBC Sport

The defeat continues a poor 2018 on the baize for Brecel who has failed to build on his memorable victory twelve months ago.

Amazingly, Brecel – who is ranked 12th in the world – has failed to reach the quarter-final stages of any World Snooker event he’s played in 2018. His form will need to improve in the coming months if he is to secure a place in The Masters in the January.

READ MORE: Why Kyren Wilson is missing the China Championship

Meanwhile, Tuesday proved a good one for reigning world champion Mark Williams who beat fellow former world champion Ken Doherty in handsome style, winning 5-0.

And world number one Mark Selby came back from a shaky start to beat Thailand’s talented star Sunny Akani 5-3.

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