Former champion Brecel misses out on Crucible spot

Former champion Brecel misses out on Crucible spotImage source, Getty ImagesImage caption, Luca Brecel won the World Snooker Championship in 2023, beating Mark Selby 18-15 in the finalByMichael EmonsBBC Sport journalistPublished9 minutes agoFormer winner Luca Brecel has failed to qualify for the 2026 World Snooker Championship, losing to Wales' Jak Jones in the last qualifying round.Brecel lifted the trophy at the Crucible in 2023, but will not be there this year as Jones, the 2024 runner-up, sealed a 10-5 victory at the English Institute of Sport in Sheffield.Jones made five century breaks of 136, 100, 114, 114 and 132 on his way to securing a superb success."I played quite well and this morning I felt really good, but this evening I felt shocking. But I managed to pull myself together and get over the line," said Jones."I don't think I could play much better - it was probably the best I have played all season. I enjoy playing at the Crucible, you either love it or hate it and you can crumble, but I enjoy the atmosphere and it's an unbelievable arena."Two-time finalist Ali Carter won five frames in a row as he fought back from 7-5 behind to defeat Scotland's Anthony McGill 10-7."I just felt Anthony was playing with a lot of freedom and I had to stick with him as he could've got away from me," said 46-year-old Carter, who will be playing at the Crucible for a 22nd year.Record number of Chinese players make it throughEngland's Jack Lisowski, who claimed his first ranking title with victory at the Northern Ireland Open in October, was also eliminated - going down 10-5 to China's He Guoqiang.It was a great day for China as Zhang Anda, Fan Zhengyi and Lei Peifan also gained wins over Zak Surety, Ben Mertens and Ryan Day respectively.That means there will be 11 Chinese players in the 32 at the Crucible, a new record - beating the previous high of 10 who played last year.It was nearly a dozen men from China...