Brecel has been suffering with a shoulder injury coming into the match and pulled out of the Scottish Open because of it, and it may have played a part again here.
Elsewhere, Kyren Wilson a semi-finalist in 2016 was also knocked in the last 128 as Jack Lisowski produced another impressive result. Lisowski had breaks of 50, 51, 54, 59, 62 and 70 in defeating Wilson 5-1 to make it through to the last 64 stage, which will be played on Friday in Barnsley. Ali Carter also lost out in the last 128, losing all of the last three frames of a 5-3 loss to Wang Yuchen.
Michael White and Stephen Maguire were both defeated on the first morning. White fell to Finland's Robin Hull who made the last 16 in Berlin last year, and Hull had two centuries of 121 and 125 in a good contest that also featured a 129 break from the Welshman though he would ultimately lose out 5-3. Maguire meanwhile lost out 5-1 to Gary Wilson, who beat Maguire for the second time in a month after a 4-0 win over the Scot in Belfast.
Ding Junhui kept his hopes alive, but only just as he came through a deciding frame battle against Gerard Greene. Ding had to fight back from 3-2 and 4-3 down before eventually coming through.
Young Chinese players Yan Bingtao and Zhou Yuelong were not so lucky though as they both fell to lower ranked opposition in Matthew Selt and Michael Georgiou respectively.
Defending champion Anthony Hamilton did come through though, battling hard to eventually come through 5-3 against Chen Zhe. Chen had led 3-2 but Hamilton came back nicely to win the final three frames and closed out the contest with a match high break of 80.
The likes of Mark Williams, Ryan Day, Ricky Walden, Neil Robertson and Joe Perry all came through fairly untroubled in their matches to make sure they would be coming back on Friday for round two.
Selected last 128 results:
Anthony Hamilton 5-3 Chen Zhe
Mitchell Mann 5-0 Zhang Yong
Gary Wilson 5-1 Stephen Maguire
David Grace 5-4 Xu Si
Fergal O'Brien 5-1 Akani Songsermsawad
Robin Hull 5-3 Michael White
Matthew Stevens 5-0 Basem Eltahhan
Mark Williams 5-1 Oliver Lines
Aditya Mehta 5-1 Ben Jones
Matthew Selt 5-3 Yan Bingtao
Ding Junhui 5-4 Gerard Greene
Nigel Bond 5-3 Christopher Keogan
Michael Georgiou 5-2 Zhou Yuelong
Ian Burns 5-1 Elliot Slessor
Jack Lisowski 5-1 Kyren Wilson
Stuart Carrington 5-4 Lee Walker
Ricky Walden 5-1 Boonyarit Kaettikun
Ashley Hugill 5-3 Leo Fernandez
Thor Chuan Leong 5-3 Daniel Wells
Joe Perry 5-1 Joe Swail
Chris Totten 5-2 Matthew Bolton
Ben Woollaston 5-4 Alex Borg
Yuan Sijun 5-4 Fang Xiongman
Judd Trump 5-3 Adam Duffy
Rory McLeod W/O Ronnie O'Sullivan
Niu Zhuang 5-1 Ian Preece
Ryan Day 5-0 Kurt Dunham
John Astley 5-4 Craig Steadman
Thepchaiya Un-Nooh 5-3 Martin O'Donnell
Mark King 5-1 Noppon Saengkham
Mike Dunn 5-2 Eden Sharav
David Gilbert 5-3 Tian Pengfei
Wang Yuchen 5-3 Ali Carter
Mark Joyce 5-2 Lu Haotian
Jackson Page 5-2 Sean O'Sullivan
Alan McManus 5-4 Dominic Dale
Graeme Dott 5-2 Soheil Vahedi
Peter Ebdon 5-4 Jak Jones
Hammad Miah 5-1 Luca Brecel
Zhao Xintong 5-2 Sam Craigie
Mei Xiwen 5-1 Michael Holt
Robbie Williams 5-1 Billy Castle
Tom Ford 5-2 Lukas Kleckers
Neil Robertson 5-2 Chris Wakelin
Andrew Higginson 5-4 Li Hang
Liang Wenbo 5-1 Duane Jones
Hamza Akbar 5-1 Allan Taylor
Xiao Guodong 5-1 Sanderson Lam
Friday's last 64 matches: (Picks in bold)
Anthony Hamilton Vs Mitchell Mann
Gary Wilson Vs David Grace
Fergal O'Brien Vs Robin Hull
Mark Williams Vs Matthew Stevens
Matthew Selt Vs Aditya Mehta
Ding Junhui Vs Nigel Bond
Michael Georgiou Vs Ian Burns
Jack Lisowski Vs Stuart Carrington
Ricky Walden Vs Ashley Hugill
Joe Perry Vs Thor Chuan Leong
Ben Woollaston Vs Chris Totten
Judd Trump Vs Yuan Sijun
Rory McLeod Vs Niu Zhuang
Ryan Day Vs John Astley
Mark King Vs Thepchaiya Un-Nooh
David Gilbert Vs Mike Dunn
Mark Joyce Vs Wang Yuchen
Mark Joyce Vs Wang Yuchen
Alan McManus Vs Jackson Page
Graeme Dott Vs Peter Ebdon
Zhao Xintong Vs Hammad Miah
Robbie Williams Vs Mei Xiwen
Neil Robertson Vs Tom Ford
Liang Wenbo Vs Andrew Higginson
Xiao Guodong Vs Hamza Akbar
Defending champion Anthony Hamilton still has to come through another match if he is to get back to the venue where his long-term dream came true last season. He came through 5-3 against Chen Zhe and had to come from 3-2 behind to do so, and if he still does not quite look back to his best after the back trouble he has had this season. Mitchell Mann won easily against Zhang Yong in round one and has had some good wins in recent tournaments so it would not be a surprise to see him come through here.
Fergal O'Brien ended his poor run of recent results by beating Akani Songsermsawad in round one, while Robin Hull played very well in parts of his win against Michael White. This is certainly a difficult match to call, with Hull probably having an edge when it comes to scoring and O'Brien the advantage tactically. After reaching the last 16 last year and getting a lot of support from the German crowd, Finland's finest will be determined to return to the Tempodrome, and I would fancy him to do so if he keeps up his good scoring from the first round.
Jack Lisowski and Stuart Carrington is a good looking match between two players who can score very heavily. Lisowski has been in fantastic form this season, and overcame Kyren Wilson to get this far. Carrington though has been a little hit and miss this season and I think if Lisowski gets on top early he will again prove very difficult to peg back.
Judd Trump faces Yuan Sijun in the last 64 here, after both came through tight opening round games. Trump had three quick one-visit frames to go 3-1 ahead against Duffy but did not have things all his own way otherwise and like a number of top players, he may have perhaps run out of steam as 2017 comes to an end. Yuan Sijun scored pretty well as he came from behind to beat Fang Xiongman 5-4, and after victories this season against the likes of Shaun Murphy and Joe Perry where he scored very well, there is no reason why he will not give Trump a tough test here.
Rory McLeod and Niu Zhuang will meet for the second tournament in succession at the last 64 stage, with McLeod winning 4-0 in Glasgow on the way to making the last 16 where he only narrowly lost out to Ricky Walden. McLeod was the beneficiary of a walkover in round one while Niu scored heavily to thrash Ian Preece in round one. I think Niu will give McLeod a much closer match this time around if he continues to score well, but with McLeod looking good in Glasgow he will be tough to beat here.
Thepchaiya Un-Nooh made a couple of centuries in the middle of his win over Martin O'Donnell, and he now faces Mark King who overcame another Thai in Noppon Saengkham in the last 128. The trouble for Un-Nooh is his inconsistency not just between tournaments but between matches. If he plays as he did against O'Donnell he has a great chance of overcoming King as well, but if he struggles as he sometimes can, then King could come through easily once again.
Neil Robertson has a very one-sided head-to-head record against Tom Ford. He has previously overcome Ford three times in the UK Championship in 2009, 2011 and 2012 with an aggregate score of 21-5 in Robertson's favour. The Australian is back on top form after winning the Scottish Open and that will make this a very difficult evening for Ford if he is not at his absolute best.
Liang Wenbo is looking for a good run in this tournament to get into the World Grand Prix places and he certainly needs to win this match and qualify for the Tempodrome in order to keep those hopes alive. He faces Andrew Higginson in the last 64 after Higginson held on to overcome Li Hang 5-4. Higginson played well to lead 4-0 but Li came back well before eventually falling short. If Higginson scores as well as he looked to in the early stages against Li he will have a great chance against Liang though he also played nicely to come through the first round against Duane Jones.
Defending champion Anthony Hamilton still has to come through another match if he is to get back to the venue where his long-term dream came true last season. He came through 5-3 against Chen Zhe and had to come from 3-2 behind to do so, and if he still does not quite look back to his best after the back trouble he has had this season. Mitchell Mann won easily against Zhang Yong in round one and has had some good wins in recent tournaments so it would not be a surprise to see him come through here.
Fergal O'Brien ended his poor run of recent results by beating Akani Songsermsawad in round one, while Robin Hull played very well in parts of his win against Michael White. This is certainly a difficult match to call, with Hull probably having an edge when it comes to scoring and O'Brien the advantage tactically. After reaching the last 16 last year and getting a lot of support from the German crowd, Finland's finest will be determined to return to the Tempodrome, and I would fancy him to do so if he keeps up his good scoring from the first round.
Jack Lisowski and Stuart Carrington is a good looking match between two players who can score very heavily. Lisowski has been in fantastic form this season, and overcame Kyren Wilson to get this far. Carrington though has been a little hit and miss this season and I think if Lisowski gets on top early he will again prove very difficult to peg back.
Judd Trump faces Yuan Sijun in the last 64 here, after both came through tight opening round games. Trump had three quick one-visit frames to go 3-1 ahead against Duffy but did not have things all his own way otherwise and like a number of top players, he may have perhaps run out of steam as 2017 comes to an end. Yuan Sijun scored pretty well as he came from behind to beat Fang Xiongman 5-4, and after victories this season against the likes of Shaun Murphy and Joe Perry where he scored very well, there is no reason why he will not give Trump a tough test here.
Rory McLeod and Niu Zhuang will meet for the second tournament in succession at the last 64 stage, with McLeod winning 4-0 in Glasgow on the way to making the last 16 where he only narrowly lost out to Ricky Walden. McLeod was the beneficiary of a walkover in round one while Niu scored heavily to thrash Ian Preece in round one. I think Niu will give McLeod a much closer match this time around if he continues to score well, but with McLeod looking good in Glasgow he will be tough to beat here.
Thepchaiya Un-Nooh made a couple of centuries in the middle of his win over Martin O'Donnell, and he now faces Mark King who overcame another Thai in Noppon Saengkham in the last 128. The trouble for Un-Nooh is his inconsistency not just between tournaments but between matches. If he plays as he did against O'Donnell he has a great chance of overcoming King as well, but if he struggles as he sometimes can, then King could come through easily once again.
Neil Robertson has a very one-sided head-to-head record against Tom Ford. He has previously overcome Ford three times in the UK Championship in 2009, 2011 and 2012 with an aggregate score of 21-5 in Robertson's favour. The Australian is back on top form after winning the Scottish Open and that will make this a very difficult evening for Ford if he is not at his absolute best.
Liang Wenbo is looking for a good run in this tournament to get into the World Grand Prix places and he certainly needs to win this match and qualify for the Tempodrome in order to keep those hopes alive. He faces Andrew Higginson in the last 64 after Higginson held on to overcome Li Hang 5-4. Higginson played well to lead 4-0 but Li came back well before eventually falling short. If Higginson scores as well as he looked to in the early stages against Li he will have a great chance against Liang though he also played nicely to come through the first round against Duane Jones.
Jackson Page and Alan McManus will be another interesting tie and a clash between youth and experience. McManus came through 5-4 in the previous round against Dominic Dale, while Jackson Page scored very well in winning all of the last five frames in a 5-2 win against Sean O'Sullivan. If Page scores as well as he did there then he has every chance against McManus, though if the frames become slightly tactical or scrappy then the experience and tactical knowledge of the Scotsman could prove the difference.
Once these matches are completed, that will be it for the qualifiers as the 32 heading to Berlin at the end of January will be confirmed, and snooker for 2017 will also be complete.
Once these matches are completed, that will be it for the qualifiers as the 32 heading to Berlin at the end of January will be confirmed, and snooker for 2017 will also be complete.
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