A snooker referee was forced to step in and tell former world champion Stuart Bingham to calm down after he exchanged strong words with opponent Hossein Vafaei. The incident occurred during their second-round match at the China Open, where Bingham secured a 6-0 whitewash over the Iranian to reach the quarter-finals.
Drama unfolded in the fifth frame. With Bingham leading 4-0 and holding a 60-8 advantage, he placed Vafaei in a difficult position behind the yellow, leaving the Iranian unable to see four of the five remaining reds on the table. Vafaei could only see the edge of one red, but playing it risked the cue ball going in-off. He attempted the shot, and as expected, the cue ball was pocketed.
Referee Awards Foul, Bingham Protests
The referee awarded a foul and gave four points to Bingham. The result was still favorable for Vafaei, as the shot knocked the red towards the others and the top cushion, leaving Bingham without an obvious pot.
Bingham, visibly frustrated, believed Vafaei had deliberately committed a foul. He remained in his seat with a wry smile before being questioned by the referee. The world No. 21 then got up and walked over to the official to argue his point animatedly.
He said while gesturing: "I believe he’s played that on purpose. If that's all he can see then there's only going to be one outcome. It's always going to happen (the in-off). That's always going to happen. He had no shot."
He added: "All he could see was that red, and he couldn't help it going in-off. So he’s got the red safe, but he’s gone in-off, so I’ve got white in hand – for what?"
Exchange Escalates, Referee Intervenes
Vafaei stayed seated before trying to argue his case to Bingham, triggering a back-and-forth. As Bingham eventually got up to the table, Vafaei asked: "What do you mean, Stuart?"
Bingham told his opponent: "You played that," before Vafaei defended his shot: "I couldn’t see anywhere else. I tried to come back from the cushion." Bingham rejected this, insisting Vafaei "couldn’t hit the cushion."
Vafaei again asked what he meant, and Bingham replied: "You know what I mean," before the referee interjected: "Calm down, please." Bingham walked away shaking his head, saying: "Ridiculous. Absolutely ridiculous," before playing his shot with no sight of a potable red.
Pundits Weigh In
Bingham went on to win the frame and the match. TNT Sports pundits were left baffled by his response. Alan McManus said: "Stuart is saying that Hossein knew he was going to go in-off, but he was playing the only red available to him. I think in the spirit of the game Stuart might have a case, but the spirit of the game isn’t really a thing. It’s down to each individual."
Neal Foulds added: "What isn’t really a thing is a deliberate foul. We’ve had a few instances lately. I can think of three where players have thought their opponent had played a deliberate foul, but where is that in the rules?"
Foulds referenced Mark Allen's deliberate foul against Wu Yize at the World Championship, asking: "Mark Allen played the most deliberate foul you’ll ever see against Wu Yize at the World Championship where he was trying to avoid the re-rack, so how is that any different? The deliberate foul is not a thing."
