In this Jan 14, 2018 photo, Belgium's Luca Brecel plays a shot against Northern Ireland's Mark Allen during their first-round match in the Masters snooker tournament at Alexandra Palace in London. (TOLGA AKMEN / AFP)

LONDON - Luca Brecel clinched the first title after the snooker season restart, as the Belgian won the Championship League on Thursday.

World No 1 Judd Trump and five-time world champion Ronnie O'Sullivan both failed to reach the four-man finals

Elite sports events were allowed to resume behind closed doors in Britain last Monday and snooker came back with the non-ranking event held at Marshall Arena, Milton Keynes, after being suspended for 11 weeks due to the COVID-19 outbreak.

All players, officials and staff were tested for coronavirus on arrival at the event, and players who won their groups returned for re-testing 24 hours before their second-stage matches.

Brecel, 25, faced his last opponent Ben Woollaston on Thursday after beating Stuart Bingham 3-0 and drawing 2-2 with Ryan Day. The Belgian only needed a draw to take the victory and he made it with a century in the final frame.

"I am usually cool under pressure but on that break I was very nervous, shaking on every shot," the world No 37 was quoted by the World Snooker Tour official website as saying.

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"That frame was probably the biggest test of my career because Ben was playing so well. It was a struggle to pot the balls until I got to 50 or 60 and then I knew I wasn't going to miss. To win a title is amazing."

World No 1 Judd Trump and five-time world champion Ronnie O'Sullivan both failed to reach the four-man finals.

Most of the Chinese players were still in China when the competition began, only Chen Feilong and Liang Wenbo took part in the 64-man event.

Liang won three matches in a row, including a victory over three-time world champion Mark Selby, to reach the last 16 last Thursday but failed to go further after a bottom-placed finish with one draw and two losses on Tuesday.