Hossein Vafaei says he returns to the World Snooker Championship with more maturity and with lessons learned after an eventful trip to the Crucible last year.
The Prince of Persia was one of the stars of the show thanks to his feud with Ronnie O’Sullivan 12 months ago, but the beef did not end well for the Iranian.
The 29-year-old looked good in qualifying to return to the famous venue and he is relishing another crack at the big time, although probably not another dust-up with a legend.
‘I just love this sport, I love playing, I love to be dedicated and I love to put myself under pressure because I don’t like comfortable situations,’ said Vafaei.
‘If I wasn’t putting myself in that kind of situation…after that I learn a lot and I learn to perform and lots of things came with it. I get involved with the media and everything.
‘Now I understand, I’m more mature to control everything on my side and just experience. If you don’t put yourself in that kind of situation, how are you going to improve? How are you going to get experience. You just have to attack. I don’t want to drop lots of information, it is what it is.
Asked what exactly he learned from his brief feud with the Rocket – which ended very amicably – Vafaei said: ‘I learned a lot of things, but I’m not going to say. I don’t want to bring that question up again, I’m sure you’re going to put it again. It was good for me, I’ll take that. It was just about respect. If nobody give some respect I will earn my respect. That’s it.
‘We are good friends again. He don’t have anything else to prove in this sport, he’s done it, he’s done everything that everyone wants to do. He’s my hero and I’m proud to say he’s my hero.
‘He’s in his own world. Maybe people don’t like whatever he does, but he’s in his own world, he doesn’t have to do anything for anyone. You’ve got to love him like that, it is what it is, but he is genius in this sport. No one can play snooker better than him.’
Vafaei doesn’t need the pressure of a running battle against the most famous name in the sport, he has enough to deal with from his home nation.
The former Shoot Out champion says the expectation levels in Iran are huge and can be very hard to deal with at times.
After coming through qualifying he said: ‘Do you want to see my phone? Oh my God!
‘A lot of people expecting you to win, expecting you to perform and lots of pressure. It’s really hard, I can’t handle it, to be honest with you.
‘Sometimes I’m on my bed and thinking, that’s too much, I can’t sleep before my match. Too much, people saying you should do this or do that, it;’s difficult. Who do I have to listen to? Everyone or my heart?
‘It’s really hard. But at the end I’m so happy to qualify for the Crucible and have someone from my country in the Crucible.’
Pressure or not, Vafaei is a confident character and loves the big stages in the sport as he prepares to step onto the biggest of them all.
‘I always fancy my chances when I play in World Championship and big events,’ he said. ‘Not just talking, I prove it to everyone, I think everyone saw that as well. I just love to be involved in big events, big crowd, loud as possible and this is the reason I play snooker, to perform on the biggest stage.’
Vafaei has one of the toughest of tests in his Crucible opener on Saturday, taking on world number two Judd Trump, beginning on Saturday afternoon.
MORE : Judd Trump on not going mad, Rocket motivation and wanting to hear some trash talk
MORE : Stephen Maguire eyeing retirement if he can’t relight his fire
For more stories like this, check our sport page.
Follow Metro Sport for the latest news on
Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
Share your story or advertise with us: Whatsapp: +2347068606071 Email: info@newspotng.com
