Hossein Vafaei sets up clash against Ronnie O'Sullivan at Snooker World Championship
- Planet Sport writer
- 17 April 2023
Hossein Vafaei ran over Ding Junhui 10-6 to set up a potential grudge match with defending champion Ronnie O’Sullivan in the Snooker World Championship at the Crucible.
Vafaei trailed 5-4 overnight but rattled off the first four frames when play resumed on Monday morning at the Crucible, the Iranian making breaks of 117, 122, 68 and 57 in rapid succession.
Ding stopped the rot after the mid-session interval with a break of 77, only for Vafaei to end a safety exchange in frame 15 with an audacious plant into the middle pocket, despite the cue ball being tight on the cushion.
That led to a break of 89 and Vafaei sealed an impressive win in the next frame to secure a showdown with O'Sullivan in the last 16.
Vafaei had called on O'Sullivan to retire last year and stated he was "not good for the game" and "sometimes disrespectful" with his comments about other players.
When reminded after his first-round win over Pang Junxu that he could face Vafaei next, O'Sullivan asked: "What did he say about me? I can't remember."
Eurosport pundit Alan McManus responded: "I think he said you should retire," to which O'Sullivan replied: "Has he been saying much about me this year? I think he's learned to be quiet.
"Don't rattle my cage. I love it when they call me out, I love it when they give me stick. I just love it.
"It turns me on. I get off on it. I need something to find so I'm hoping someone says something and hopefully I get better so I can have a reason to perform.
"They are not going to say anything now are they, because they probably realised it's not a good tactic to play. We'll see, but we'll have some fun."
Asked about O'Sullivan after his victory over Ding, Vafaei suggested O'Sullivan was a nice person when he was asleep and even put on an Essex accent as he criticised the world number one for always making excuses.
"I think Ronnie O'Sullivan is such a legend, he's such a good player when he's on the table," Vafaei told BBC Sport.
"He's such a nice person when he's sleeping you know? You know what I mean. It's going to be a great match for the people. I think every sport needs to have some people like us.
"I don't have anything to lose. If he beats me for example 13-0 it's still the start of my career. I don't fear him.
"If I beat my hero, (who) used to be my hero, I'm going to be dangerous for the tournament. I'm not going to disrespect all the players because I've seen so many players playing well as well, (but) it's going to be great if I go to the final."
