Iranian Vafaei capable of great things, says beaten rival Trump

Iran’s snooker trailblazer Hosein Vafaei would be capable of winning any trophy if he had more self-belief, said world number one Judd Trump, the man he beat in the second round of the world championship.

Vafaei, 31, produced the shock of the tournament late on Monday by winning the last two frames to beat Trump 13-12 and secure a place in the quarter-finals.

Vafaei — Iran’s first professional snooker player — goes on to play China’s Wu Yize, who beat four-time champion Mark Selby 13-11, and at 22 is aiming to become the youngest world champion since Stephen Hendry in 1990.

The Iranian, who made history when he won a world-ranking tournament in 2022, is the only unseeded player to have made it into the last eight — indeed he was the sole cuesman ranked outside the top 16 to reach the second round.

Both he and Trump embraced warmly at the end of the epic encounter at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield, the city where Vafaei lives.

Trump, who will lose his number one ranking if Australian Neil Robertson wins the title, said he had given his opponent some advice.

“Just to believe in himself a little more,” said Trump.

“I think he’s more than good enough to win all kinds of events, I think he just lacks a little bit of self-belief at times, maybe at the start of the game.

“But when he got going and when he saw I wasn’t playing well he pounced on it, he just needs to do it from the start.”

Vafaei, who prior to this run had made the second round twice, admitted before embarking on the present campaign that even though now there is a truce in the war he had found it hard to focus since the US and Israel began bombarding Iran on February 28.

However, Vafaei, who hails from Abadan in the southwestern province of Khuzestan bordering Iraq, has the blinkers on now and believes he can go all the way.

“I’m looking forward to playing anyone — I’m not scared of anyone and all of them know that,” said Vafaei.

“There’s no pressure, so why should I be worried? Some of us are different.

“When you see the line you get hungry or you get tired, it’s up to you. I came to live in Sheffield to be beside the Crucible. The Crucible trophy is living in my head rent free.

“I’m looking forward to it against Wu and fancy the job — let’s see how talented he is.

“I was not nervous, I enjoyed every moment. I was born for these kinds of situations.”