Hossein Vafaei

Bio

Iran’s first professional snooker player, Hossein Vafaei made history in January 2022 by becoming the first Iranian to win a world ranking tournament at the Shoot Out in Leicester.

Having made the tournament high break of 123 in the opening round, Vafaei would ultimately defeat three-time world champion Mark Williams in the title match to claim the £50,000 top prize. Victory saw him become the 70th player to win a world ranking event with Iran becoming the 14th country to produce a ranking event champion.

As well as his success at the Shoot Out, Vafaei has reached the semi-finals of four world ranking events, first at the 2017 China Open where he defeated world number two Judd Trump before losing out to Mark Williams. Two years later he equalled this performance at both the Welsh Open and China Championship, losing narrowly to Williams again 6-5 in a deciding frame in Guangzhou.

He made his debut at the televised stages of the World Championship in 2022, winning his first match at the Crucible Theatre a year later against Ding Junhui before losing out to defending champion Ronnie O’Sullivan in the last 16.

Vafaei compiled the first maximum break of his career at the 2022 European Masters qualifiers.

He broke into the world’s top 32 for the first time in 2019 and finished the 2022/23 season ranked in 17th position.

Early Career

A former world under-21 and world amateur champion, Vafaei joined the World Snooker Tour in 2012 but it was not until the 2015/16 season that he was able to compete on a regular basis following a successful visa application.

Career Honours

WST Ranking Event Titles (1)

• 2021/22: Shoot Out