Hossein Vafaei let out an emotional scream as he potted his way to a dramatic 10-9 victory over Barry Hawkins at the 2025 World Snooker Championship on Sunday.
The Iranian had never been ahead in the entire first-round contest at the Crucible Theatre until the final frame.
Vafaei was behind six times in the match, including four times by a couple of frames, but clawed his way back on each occasion to stun the 11th seed.
Already known as a feisty character – both through his gutsy displays on the baize and his fiery comments off of it – Vafaei shocked the Crucible crowd with a large outburst during the deciding frame.
After potting a red ball to reach a break of 50, and with the frame still not mathematically secure, the 30 year-old produced an unexpected “come on” roar.
It wasn’t quite on the infamous levels of former champion Peter Ebdon, but it still came as a surprise to everyone watching.
As it turned out, the former Shoot Out champion held his nerve together to make a 73 break and qualify for the last 16 for only the second time in his career.
““In the moment during the deciding frame, my mind went negative,” Hossein Vafaei, who compiled four century breaks, told the World Snooker Tour.
“I had to change something around. I needed to give something a go and let the animal come out again. It was a trick to my mind.”
“When you get close to crossing the line, people can make mistakes. That was the only way.
“I was under lots of pressure. All the way, I was down. What can I do? I’m always under pressure. I couldn’t handle it at the end.
“I had to show some emotion or I’m not human. I had to show to the fans that we feel the pressure. People want to see this.
“Beating the world number 11 in the Crucible with four centuries is the best performance I have had. The numbers don’t lie.
“I could easily have given up and not continued. I kept believing in myself that the game was there.”
Vafaei is a character who divides opinion, but there is no doubting the fact that he adds a different element to the action in Sheffield.
The former world amateur champion will face Mark Williams in the next round after the Welshman orchestrated a 10-8 victory over Wu Yize.
Despite appearing to be the second-best player for large periods of the encounter, Williams relied on his experience and superior match craft to get past the young Chinese talent.
Elsewhere on Sunday, Xiao Guodong had a much easier time of it as he coasted into the second round with a 10-4 defeat of Matthew Selt.
But there was an upset of sorts as Neil Robertson crashed out at the opening hurdle following a 10-8 reverse against Chris Wakelin.
Robertson – twice a ranking event winner this term – clawed his way back from 7-2 behind to tie the scores up at 7-7.
But Wakelin then held himself together well at the end to clinch a first-ever Crucible win.
“A lot of the memories in my career up until two years ago were negative,” International Championship runner-up Wakelin said afterwards.
“It was the match I nearly won or the ball I nearly potted. It is amazing now to think that some of my matches will be remembered in years to come for good things.”
“The psychological part of this game is the game. We all have the skill to play out there.
“But doing it on the day when it matters, and dealing with the fact this is the World Championship, adds a lot of extra pressure.
“I was prepared for it to go close today. I was ready for him to come back at me and I managed to get over the line in the end.”
A couple of other fixtures reached their halfway points, with Mark Allen fighting back from 3-0 down to lead Fan Zhengyi 5-4.
Zhao Xintong, meanwhile, looked in ominous form as he surged to a 7-2 overnight lead against last year’s runner-up Jak Jones.
Featured photo credit: WST
Williams, like O’Sullivan in 2023, is a player Vafaei has experienced beef with. They didn’t shake hands after a match with at last season’s World Grand Prix.
His celebration in the decider was a little different to Ebdon in one sense. I never recall the 2002 world champion engaging in histrionics before a frame had been won. A less mild mannered chap than Hawkins might have been less forgiving.