LUCA BRECEL joked "it shouldn't be legal" when describing how he'll celebrate his World Snooker Championship victory.
The Belgian overcame Mark Selby 18-15 at the Crucible to claim his first world title.
Brecel, 28, sent a classy message to Selby and his wife Vikki amid her health concerns – in addition to admitting he'll be partying hard to celebrate his win.
He said: "It is amazing. I cannot see through the tears.
"Mark made it so tough, he is the worst opponent to have, he just keeps coming back. He is such a fighter. I don't know how I did.
"Snooker is a mental sport. I could have lost in the first round. If I had, people would have said again, 'he has lost first round'. Now I am the winner. Snooker is all about the small margins. It is crazy.
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"I have the best team, best friends, parents and girlfriend. If you don't have the team it makes it difficult to play the game.
"I won't practice for a couple of weeks and months. I will enjoy this. It has been a cray week. No practice, just partying. It shouldn't be legal.
"I want to say to Mark and Vikki: Please stay strong.
"It will now explode in Belgium snooker. I am just so happy."
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Brecel, who prepared for the tournament by going on an all-day bender, defeated Ronnie O'Sullivan in the quarter-finals and Si Jiahui in the semis before his triumph over Selby.
Gracious in defeat, Selby said of his wife: "She has been poorly but is coming out of the other side of it now. Hopefully things will be okay.
"It was nice what Luca said. He didn’t know. I spoke to him on Sunday and told the situation. He has mentioned it. He didn’t have to – fair play to him.
"It’s been tough with things going on with Vikki.
"Since January, I’ve not really been practising. For a few weeks it was tough, coping and managing my own mental health and what’s been going on with Vikki.
"Hopefully we are out of the other side of it."
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