Hossein Vafaei mocks Ronnie O'Sullivan after setting up a second-round meeting with the Rocket at the World Snooker Championship

By Chris Hammer

10:15 · TUE April 18, 2023

Hossein Vafaei poked fun at Ronnie O'Sullivan after he set up a second-round meeting against the seven-time world champion with a breathtaking 10-6 victory over Ding Junhui.

O'Sullivan overcame illness during his first-round win against Pang Junxu on Saturday night and afterwards said: "I'm relieved it's over. I've got a bug, I've been hanging all day. Everything's gone, just hanging in there. It's a horrible feeling."

However, when the Rocket was asked about the prospect of facing the Iranian qualifier in the next round, he was keen to remind Eurosport viewers that Vafaei had labelled him 'not good for the game' and suggested he retire from it last year.

"Don't rattle my cage!" laughed O'Sullivan. "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 fire me up, I can have a reason to perform. They've probably realised it's not a good tactic, but we'll see. We'll have some fun."

Well, fun looks on the cards now after Vafaei joked to the BBC about how O'Sullivan has been making excuses throughout his career and shouldn't be taken seriously.

"He always finds an excuse for himself, he’s been like that for 30 years," he said before mocking his Essex accent.

Hossein Vafaei taking the mick out of Ronnie O'Sullivan!

They meet on Friday 🍿 pic.twitter.com/PCcg9DZMj3
— Chris Hammer (@ChrisHammer180) April 17, 2023

"Stephen Hendry won a title with a broken arm. I've got a bug!" Ronnie O'Sullivan after his R1 win

It should be a spectacular occasion if Vafaei can produce the same standard of snooker he did against Ding as he made a number of exhibition shots during breaks of 117, 122, 68, 57 and 89 during a wonderful second session, in which he won five of the seven frames.

After his first ever Crucible win on his second appearance, the 28-year-old said: "I don't fear anyone and I have nothing to lose. The pressure is on everyone else. Some of them respect me, some of them don't. But as soon as I go on the table I respect anyone.

"Ronnie O'Sullivan is such a legend on the table and he's such a nice person when he's asleep," he laughed. "It's going to be a great match and I'm looking forward to it. If he beats me 13-0 or something like that, it's still the start of my career. I don't fear him.

"If I beat my hero - well, used to be my hero - I'm going to be dangerous for the tournament.

"I’m not going to disrespect other players, I’ve seen so many players playing well, like Neil Robertson, such a tough opponent for this tournament, but it’s going to be great if I go to the final."

"There's a fine line between bravery and madness and he's walked it brilliantly!"

What a shot during Hossein Vafaei's magic session of snooker pic.twitter.com/LYwhZQUotY
— Chris Hammer (@ChrisHammer180) April 17, 2023

Hossein Vefaei produced many other special pots against Ding, including this one.

His next match with Ronnie O'Sullivan will hopefully be spectacular. pic.twitter.com/p5dnOHgri0
— Chris Hammer (@ChrisHammer180) April 17, 2023

Williams waltzes into second round

Mark Williams reeled off six frames in a row against Jimmy Robertson to storm into the last 16, winning 10-5 having trailed 5-4 overnight.

The three-time world champion was in fine touch throughout the concluding session, quickly levelling the scores with a run of 51 before adding further breaks of 69, 64 and 84 in an impressive barrage.

Robertson, who has never beaten Williams, would have fancied his chances having turned in an assured display on Sunday, but he was completely outgunned a day later and the Welshman can look forward to a meeting with Luca Brecel in the next round.

"I played really solid today and put the pressure on Jimmy," said Williams. "He missed a few that he wasn’t missing yesterday.

"My form has been good this season. I nearly won the Masters. I am still here and still doing it, I am moulding into a solid player all round. My potting is not as good as it used to be but my all-round game now is probably better than it was years ago.

"Sometimes there are long pots which I would have gone for in the past and got them nine times out of 10. These days my eyes are not as good so I turn them down.

"It will be a tough game against Luca but I’m not worried about anyone else, I’ll just try my best. And if I win the tournament again, this time all my clothes are staying on!"

Allen takes early control

Mark Allen wrapped up a 10-5 win over Fan Zhengyi in a concluding session that was delayed by around 40 minutes when ‘Just Stop Oil’ protesters invaded the Crucible stage.

A Just Stop Oil protestor ruining one of the Crucible tables pic.twitter.com/WQA5deuL6n
— Chris Hammer (@ChrisHammer180) April 17, 2023

Resuming 6-3 in front on the one table that remained unaffected, Allen made light of the interruption when he returned to complete a 126 break in the first frame of the evening and move three away from victory.

Fan responded by taking the next two but Allen wriggled through a tight 13th frame then delivered his second century, a 101, to nudge one frame from victory.

The Chinese player got the first chance in the next but broke down on a break of 31 and a knock of 64 from Allen ultimately proved enough to get him over the line.

Earlier, four-time winner John Higgins made a dominant start as he built a 7-2 overnight lead over qualifier David Grace.

Higgins racked up five half-centuries, including a break of 98 in the second frame, to surely make Tuesday’s concluding session of their first-round match a formality.