Ronnie O’Sullivan’s rival is labeled ‘pathetic’ as tensions rise due to misreading
Ronnie O’Sullivan’s fierce rival Hossein Vafaei has been branded “pathetic” by Mark Williams after refusing to shake the Welshman’s hand at the end of their World Grand Prix match on Wednesday night. The Prince of Persia stormed out of Leicester’s Morningside arena as Williams wrapped up a 4-1 win.
Vafaei took offence to Williams slapping his own leg after missing the pink at the end of the fifth and final frame. As a result, instead of acknowledging the victor he shook hands with referee Olivier Marteel before making a beeline for the exit prompting boos from the crowd.
Williams was equally unimpressed by the lack of sportsmanship shown by Vafaei. Taking to X, formerly Twitter after the game, he wrote: “Unreal, didn’t know what was happening. I was a good admirer of his game as well, all my family liked him, not sure they do after that now.”
The three-time world champion went on to label the situation “pathetic” and “shocking”. Meanwhile, he admitted he was especially surprised because he had “always got on” with Vafaei.
The grievance stemmed from a misinterpretation by the Iranian as Williams explained during his post-match interview. “I just pulled him up about it there and said, ‘what’s your problem?'” Williams told ITV. “He said it was because I slapped my leg at the end when I won.
“I slapped my leg at the end because I shouldn’t have gone for the pink, I should have played safe and I thought he would have come back to the table and carried on for snookers.
“That’s why I was a bit fuming, I shouldn’t have gone for the pink and I knew it and he just stormed up. He said that’s the reason, if that’s the reason, pfft, I don’t care anyway.”
Former world champion Ken Doherty said of the incident: “I think it was the fact that he had already won the match, Hossein wasn’t going to play for snooker. Mark had a different idea about it, Hossein thought it was disrespectful because he’d already won. That’s why he stormed off.”
This isn’t the first time Vafaei has got into a tiff with a fellow pro. In 2022, he memorably told O’Sullivan to retire for being “disrespectful” ahead of the World Championship that year and claimed the 48-year-old was “not good for the game” which kicked off a lengthy back-and-forth between the pair.
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