Iranian snooker star Hossein Vafaei has made a heartbreaking admission at the Crucible, revealing the immense difficulty of focusing on the World Snooker Championship amid the grave situation in his homeland. The 31-year-old, Iran's first professional snooker player, is determined to battle through and make his nation proud when he faces Si Jiahui in Sheffield.
Struggling to Concentrate
Vafaei confessed that it has been incredibly tough to keep his mind on the sport due to the serious issues affecting Iran. "I'm fighting to make Iranians proud. If I do well, they can see me and it's going to be a proud moment for me if I do well," he said, as reported by the Daily Record. "I'm fighting as well for my country, for my family. It's been very, very hard. I don't want to get involved to that, but it's been tough. You get the bad texts in your day, you can't focus on your job. Imagine lots of things happening and how can I focus on everything?"
He added: "To be an Iranian, you're like 10 people, you're lifting too many things on your head. No-one knows how tough it is." Despite the challenges, Vafaei remains resolute: "I'm trying my best. Everything that happens, happens, but I'm going to give it all. It's a very tough moment, but I hope it's going to be over soon. I hope. And then the safety comes back to my country. Hopefully everyone will be safe."
Overcoming Adversity
Vafaei also revealed that many had questioned his commitment to snooker. "A lot of people have been talking like: Where is he? What's he doing? They've been thinking I'm going to stop playing snooker, but I had a tough year. Mentally, personally and everything." He explained that he hasn't been in Iran due to commitments in China, working for his sponsors.
In addition to his mental struggles, Vafaei battled a mid-season injury. "I had to take two, three months off and after that I lost my form. It was tough to find and the struggle starts from there, to be honest with you," he said. "I couldn't hold my cue. Now I can hold my cue, I can play a little bit of left hand as well. A shoulder problem. It started from the fifth disc of my neck, and it was hurting my fingers and all the nerves on my left hand side."
Pride in Reaching the Crucible
Vafaei progressed through Judgement Day qualifying to feature at the Worlds for the fifth consecutive year, a feat he regards with enormous pride. "When I was young, when I started playing snooker, the first thing I saw was Crucible. From the first day you become like someone in your sport, you want to play there and that is everyone, every snooker player, every youngster. A lot of people become a snooker player because they watch Crucible. I came to the Crucible, that was a great achievement for me."
He added: "It's a great achievement for me. For someone like me, it's a great achievement. I don't want to disrespect my opponents. But I never care who I'm going to play. I just stand up and play, whatever happens, happens. My life has been like that. I can't be like others, they care too much, something like that, but I'm not going to say it's bad. It's a really good thing I need to work on to be excited for everything."
Gratitude for the Crucible's Future
Vafaei expressed happiness that the Crucible will continue to host the World Championship. "I'm very excited. I'm so happy the Crucible is going to stay. I'm so happy for the fans. I'm so happy for England to not let the story of their country go somewhere else. This was the big move for UK sports and UK snooker. It was great news."
He praised the unique atmosphere in the UK: "UK loves their snooker and it's a completely different atmosphere. And of course, the Chinese events, they have to get there as well. Like UK tournaments have to get like Chinese tournaments as well. The way they give service to the players is completely different. How they look after the players."
Vafaei concluded: "But it's such great news for snooker, especially the younger generation who love to play in the Crucible and I would like to say thanks to World Snooker for keeping the Crucible."
