World Snooker Championship star makes controversial outburst as Dennis Taylor weighs in

Daily Mirror

21-04-2025

Hossein Vafaei let out a loud cheer during the 19th frame of his match against Barry Hawkins, with BBC commentator Dennis Taylor questioning the emotion as the frame was not yet wrapped up
Dennis Taylor raised questions about Hossein Vafaei's"emotional" response during his nail-biting victory over Barry Hawkins at the World Snooker Championship.
Vafaei, who has never made it past the second round of the tournament, only took the lead in the very last frame, ultimately clinching a 10-9 win to progress. The match was a close run thing throughout, with Vafaei and Hawkins battling through all 18 frames before Vafaei emerged victorious in the final moments of the contest.
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However, it was Vafaei's reaction during the 19th frame that caught attention at the Crucible Theatre, as he let out an exuberant "Come on!" after potting a red to reach a 50 break. Commentator Taylor seemed slightly puzzled by the premature celebration, which has split fans online.
"Oh, that's a little bit premature. I know he does get emotional, but he isn't over the line just yet," Taylor exclaimed whilst on commentary duty for the BBC.
Despite the early cheer, Vafaei did indeed secure the frame and the match, booking his place in the next round whilst breaking the heart of his opponent Hawkins.
The motive behind the outburst was naturally questioned in the post-match discussion, and Vafaei responded: "In that moment my mind went negative, so I had to turn something around to tell myself, I had to let something go and let my animal come out again.
"That was a little treat to my mind. Don't stop me please! Let me go! Let me please go! When you get close to over the line, this is the way people make mistakes."
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Vafaei also made sure his outburst wasn't taken personally by his opponent Hawkins, telling the English player after their encounter: "[I told him] 'This is nothing about you, mate. I couldn't handle it, I was under lots of pressure.'
"All the way I was down. 1-0, until 8-7 until 9-8 I was all the way down, so what can I do? Up, down, up, down. I did it 10 times. I had to show some emotion otherwise I'm not human.
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"I am human! I had to show some emotion to the people, to the fans," he concluded. "It's going to be boring [otherwise], people want to see this."
Looking ahead, Vafaei is set to face off against Mark Williams, who secured his place in round two after defeating Wu Yize - though viewers online were quick to be divided by the premature celebration, which was slightly frowned upon by Taylor.
One agreed with Taylor, writing: "Too early, and embarrassing!" While another issued a far more critical response, posting: "Total idiot. There's another match just a few feet away. This is snooker - audience members will get kicked out if they eat their snacks too loud, or move slightly when in the players' eye-line. And this guy belts that out like it's a football match. Strong player, but zero class."
However, not everyone felt as though the Iranian's cry was inherently negative, with one posting: "Love this. Love his attitude, snooker needs more players like him." And one more saying: "We all say snooker lacks characters, he's just getting himself going and shown emotion, nothing wrong with that."