Hossein Vafaei does not want to reignite his feud with Ronnie O’Sullivan at the Shanghai Masters this week. The pair could be in line to meet after the Iranian previously claimed the Rocket should retire.
The spat between the pair started before the 2022 World Snooker Championship. Vafaei was not happy with O’Sullivan’s comments on the current state of snooker.
O’Sullivan had also said that he would not encourage children to take up the sport. In April of last year, Vafaei revealed his admiration for the seven-time world champion but said he should hang up his cue and allow younger players to take on the mantle.
Vafaei told the Metro: “I like him a lot, I am his fan, I love what he does but sometimes he’s disrespectful, he’s not good for the game. I think he should retire, to be honest with you. He should retire and then the younger generation make the game bigger.”
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A year later, the pair went head-to-head at the 2023 World Snooker Championship and O’Sullivan thrashed Vafaei 13-2 in the second round. Afterwards, O’Sullivan admitted he’d been upset by the deterioration in their friendship.
He said on Eurosport: “All of a sudden, it just went a bit funny. So I was baffled and I was a bit sad about it, to be honest with you, but there is not a lot you can do. He has his reasons. Hopefully, it is put to bed now and we can be friends and that is it.
“Yeah, yeah, yeah [we’re still friends]. But you never know with Hossein. Next week he could be coming at me again, you know!”
But ahead of a possible clash in Shanghai this week, Vafaei has moved to ensure the feud doesn’t continue. He wants there to be respect between the pair if they meet in the semi-finals.
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Vafaei said: “I’m so happy, this is myself, I’m not acting, I’m a snooker player and I love to be myself. If something is not right I have to say it, people accept it or don’t accept it.
“At the same time, we shouldn’t forget the respect as well, as much as possible. Let’s forget that [the spat with O’Sullivan]. I’m going to make a new story again, maybe for someone else! No, listen, I love Ronnie, he’s my hero.
“I play snooker because of him, if he’s not around snooker, who’s going to watch the snooker? Even myself, I’m one of his fans. Sometimes it happens in any family. Let’s forget it.”
Vafaei eased past Gong Chenzhi 6-1 in the first round on Monday and will face Mark Selby in round two. Meanwhile, O’Sullivan will play Ai Carter following the 44-year-old’s win over Dong Zihao.
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