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Hossein Vafaei's wild break against Ronnie O'Sullivan leaves Steve Davis with ‘nasty taste’ in mouth

Ronnie O’Sullivan and Hossein Vafaei

Steve Davis and Shaun Murphy were left baffled following Hossein Vafaei's moment of madness against Ronnie O'Sullivan during their World Championship clash, which the 'Rocket' leads 6-2.

Six-time snooker world champion Steve Davis admitted Hossein Vafaei's controversial break against Ronnie O'Sullivan was 'just not snooker'. 

Vafaei's blast cued up O'Sullivan to mop up with a break of 78 and the defending champion went on to fashion a 6-2 overnight advantage in their second-round clash, leaving him an opportunity to wrap up victory with a session to spare when they resume on Saturday afternoon.
The second-round clash at the Crucible between Vafaei and O'Sullivan endured a heated build-up after the Iranian player launched a verbal attack on the defending world champion.
Following his first-round win over Ding Junhui, the player called on his opponent to 'retire' and even stated O'Sullivan was 'not good for the game'.
He added further fuel to the fire, saying: " He's such a nice person when he's sleeping, you know? You know what I mean."
Vafaei's problem with O'Sullivan stems from a 2021 clash in the German Masters qualifiers. The Rocket, who was visibly frustrated after going 4-0 down, smashed up the pack of reds from his break-off in the final frame - one which he went on to lose.
That moment was still engraved in the back of Vafaei's mind as the two men entered the Crucible Theatre for their second-round World Championship clash on Friday.

O'Sullivan took the lead in the opening frame with a break of 78. He was then essentially handed a 2-0 lead after Vafaei decided to spectacularly smash the reds with his first break of the match.

"He [O'Sullivan] will have been delighted to see Hossein effectively bail out a bit because it's a tough match if Hossein Vafei takes it seriously," Steve Davis told the BBC during the interval.

"It turns me off. When Quinten Hann did it - it's just not snooker. You can't make a case for it. All of a sudden, you have a match at the Crucible Theatre that could be a brilliant match for the public, and one person smashes the balls open.
"There is no chance that you can make that into a frame. You can't say '30% of the time I fluke a ball'. It doesn't happen. There's no way you could make a case for it on percentages of flukes. You're basically giving your opponent an easy chance.
"For me, [it leaves] a nasty taste in my mouth for the match."

Stephen Murphy was similarly bewildered, adding: "I think you're watching the difference between someone who can handle it out there and someone who can't.

"Ronnie used to get involved in stuff like that. He used to cause a bit of controversy himself but in recent seasons he's been a completely different person. Doesn't tend to get involved. He lets his cue do the talking most of the time."

When asked whether Vafaei had released his frustrations with that one moment of madness, Murphy said: "Who's to say he has got it off his chest?

"If he's been carrying it for so long, he did it there. Not sure what point he was trying to make. Not sure what it was all about. This isn't the place to do that.
"This is the world championship. This was a match that he was in. I wouldn't go as far to say he's not in it anymore but he's done himself no good there at all. I really don't get it."
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