Iran's Vafaei into UK Championship 2023 Quarters
TEHRAN (Tasnim) - Iranian professional snooker player, Hossein Vafaei, earned a place in the quarterfinals of the 2023 UK Championship for the first time with a 6-1 defeat of Matthew Selt in York.
Victory sees Vafaei keep his hopes of qualifying for the Masters alive. Vafaei will secure his place at Alexandra Palace if he wins his quarter-final against Zhang Anda and Ding Junhui loses his against Mark Williams.
Having come through two rounds of qualifying and scored an impressive 6-4 win over Shaun Murphy in the opening round, Vafaei will feel confident of mounting a title charge.
He’s aiming to be the first Iranian winner of a regulation format tournament. Vafaei is already the first ranking event winner from his country, having won the Shoot Out in 2022.
The world number 18 has enjoyed success in York before, having knocked four-time World Champion Mark Selby out in each of the previous two years. On both occasions he bowed out in the last 16, but tonight’s display sees him go one step further.
In a sensational showing of break building, Vafaei hammered home runs of 132, 94, 56, 133 and 121 on his way to an emphatic victory.
