Hossein Vafaei (Photo by Mehrizi720)
Iran’s top player Hossein Vafaei became the first qualifier at this year’s World Snooker Championship to reach the second round as he won nine frames in a row to beat Si Jiahui 10-3.
Before today, all 14 completed matches had gone in favour of the seeded player, but the chances of all 16 making the second round for first time at the Crucible have now ended with defeat for China’s Jiahui .
World number 32 Vafaei made a century and seven more breaks over 50 in a fine display as he set up a meeting with world number one Judd Trump which starts on Saturday afternoon. He reached the same stage in 2023 and 2025 and now hopes to progress to the quarter-finals for the first time.
In 2022, Vafaei became the first Iranian player to win a ranking title with victory in the Shoot Out, and the following year he figured briefly in the top 16 and played in the Masters.
However, last year he was held back by a spinal injury which caused pain in his neck and shoulder. And in recent weeks he has inevitably found it hard to focus on snooker given the ongoing conflict in his homeland and concerns about the safety of his family.
Despite this, he reached his first quarter-final of the season at the World Open and has now won three matches in the biggest tournament to earn the chance to take on Trump.
Vafaei came from 3-1 down in the first session on Wednesday to lead 6-3 with a top break of 105. Jiahui had a scoring chance in the opening frame today but missed the pink to a centre pocket on 22 , letting his opponent in for a run of 53 for 7-3. In frame 12, Jiahui was on 9 when he ran out of position, then Vafaei got the better of a safety exchange and made 45 to extend his lead.
A break of 78 brought 31-year-old Vafaei to the brink of victory at 9-3. Jiahui had one more chance to fight back, but missed a red to a baulk corner on 24 in frame 12 and Vafaei wrapped it up with a run of 68.
“I am getting a lot of support from home so I am fighting for them,” said Vafaei. “I am just thinking about making them happy.
“I am a fan of Jiahui, he is a great player so it’s a fantastic achievement for me to win. Perhaps I was sharp after the qualifiers. This gives me confidence and I will be ready for my next match. Judd is a friend and I respect him a lot. Hopefully we will both play well.”
Robertson victory completes opening round
Neil Robertson overcame a nervy start as he pulled away from 5-5 to beat Pang Junxu 10-6 in a tough opening test.
In the last of the opening round matches to finish, Robertson eased over the winning line and became the 15th seed out of 16 to make it into round two. “It was nervy in the first session yesterday,” he admitted.
“Today I was able to dictate how the match went and from 5-5 I played really well. Pang has got one of the best safety games but tonight my long potting was good and I played some aggressive safety to open the balls up.
“Hossein Vafaei did me a favour earlier today by knocking out Si Jiahui, otherwise everyone would have been talking about whether I would be the 16th seed to win. With so many of the best players through, there are some amazing match-ups in the second round.”
Given his success across the tour, Robertson has a surprisingly poor record at the Crucible over recent years; he has not reached the semi-finals since 2014.
He won the title in 2010 and hopes to join a group of only six players to have lifted the trophy on multiple occasions in Sheffield, but knows he must improve his performances over the early rounds which he has found difficult to negotiate over the past decade.
The 44-year-old Australian is into the second round at the Crucible for the 15th time and will now face Chris Wakelin in a best-of-25 clash starting on Saturday. The pair met in the opening round last year, Wakelin winning 10-8, so Robertson will be determined to reverse the result.
The world number three also still has a chance to climb to the top of the Johnstone’s Paint World Rankings though he must win the title and hope that Judd Trump goes out in the second round.
Robertson led 5-4 after the first session and he had a chance in the opening frame tonight but missed a tricky red to centre pocket on 29 and his opponent later made 45 to square the tie. A run of 77 helped Robertson regain the lead and in frame 12 he led 29-6 when he converted a difficult red to a top corner and went on to make 49 for 7-5.
Pang potted just one red in the next two frames as Robertson extended his advantage to 9-5 with a runs of 80 and 54. He had a match-winning chance in frame 15 but missed a tough blue to a baulk corner at 17-0 and Pang kept his hopes alive with a break of 73. But Robertson clinched the result in the next with a run of 100, his 88th century at the Crucible.
Robertson, who won the Saudi Arabia Snooker Masters at the start of this season, added: “I enjoy playing Chris Wakelin because he goes for his shots and it will be an open game. I was happy for him when he won the Scottish Open and you can see now he feels he belongs in the top 16.”
On the other table, Northern Ireland’s Mark Allen established a 5-3 lead over Kyren Wilson, who took the last three frames of the session to remain in touch in their second round clash.
2024 World Champion Wilson cut a frustrated figure for much of the session. He stated after his opening round match that he “hated” his cue. Those doubts were visible this evening and at one point he even gestured to bite off his tip.
Former Masters and UK Champion Allen, who is chasing a maiden Crucible crown, crafted breaks of 50 and 78 on his way to a commanding 5-0 advantage. Wilson dug deep and runs of 75 and 50 helped him to three on the bounce.
On the other table, 2005 Crucible King Shaun Murphy emerged with a healthy 6-2 advantage after the opening session of his second round clash with Xiao Guodong.
Murphy narrowly prevailed in a thrilling first round tie against Fan Zhengyi. At 9-9, he trailed in the decider with the balls placed in difficult positions. However, the Magician conjured a clearance to win 10-9 on the pink. He later described it as his best ever break.
Back-to-back Wuhan Open champion Guodong came through with a 10-6 win over Chinese compatriot Zhou Yuelong in round one. He’s aiming to progress beyond the second round for the first time in his career, having lost out 13-12 to John Higgins at this stage 12 months ago.
Englishman Murphy made breaks of 79, 103, 63, 64 and 61 en route to a four-frame cushion following the afternoon’s play.
They return at today for the second of three sessions in this best-of-25 encounter.
