World Snooker Championship: China’s Zhang Anda crushed by pressure after ‘Crucible curse’ dethrones Luca Brecel
- Brecel expresses relief at defeat by David Gilbert, saying attention that came with being world champion was ‘not my thing’
- Zhang says he ‘put too much pressure on myself’ to live up to his seeding as he loses to Jak Jones
China’s Zhang Anda said the pressure got to him after he followed defending champion Luca Brecel out of snooker’s Cazoo World Championship in Sheffield.
On an opening weekend when outsiders stole the show, world No 11 Zhang was far from his best against Jak Jones of Wales.
He arrived as his country’s second-highest seed after Ding Junhui at No 7, but lost Sunday’s second session at the Crucible Theatre by the same 5-2 margin as the first to crash out 10-4.
The 32-year-old from Guangdong province exited hours after Brecel, last year’s unlikely winner from Belgium, joined the long line of victims of the “Crucible curse”, falling on the very first day in a thrilling tussle with qualifier David Gilbert late on Saturday.
Jones, too, came through an exceptionally strong qualifying section. It was Zhang’s misfortune to face a man who looked at home on his run to the quarter-finals last year, but the occasion also had a hand in it.
“This was my first time as a seeded player,” said Zhang, who had billed the first round as his biggest match of the season. “I wanted to perform well but felt just too much pressure and performed terrible.”
