It has been a spat played out across interviews in the media rather than on the table, with the two exchanging barbs, but why is there beef between the two men?
Vafaei, the first Iranian to play and win a match at the Crucible, got the feud going last year when he qualified for the World Championship for the first time and made some extraordinary comments about the Rocket after doing so.
‘I like him a lot, I am his fan, I love what he does but sometimes he’s disrespectful, he’s not good for the game,’ Vafaei told Metro.co.uk last year.
‘I think he should retire, to be honest with you. He should retire and then the younger generation make the game bigger.’
O’Sullivan was surprised to hear someone call for him to retire but didn’t seem too fussed by it, although did suggest a clash between the two would be extra spicy.
‘I can’t start criticising when people say something,’ said O’Sullivan at the time. ‘Some of the things I’ve said over the years have been…I look back and laugh at them because some of them have been blinders.
‘Hossein has said what he said. Listen, he’s a great player, he’s a good guy and you know…it’ll be a good match if I play him.’
The beef seemed to be put back in the fridge at that point as the comments died down and they haven’t played since, but it was brought out again and reheated by the Rocket.
After O’Sullivan won his first round match at the Crucible against Pang Junxu last week, there was the possibility he would face Vafaei next, and the Rocket had a warning for the Prince of Persia.
‘Hossein Vafaei, the man who said…what did he say about me, I can’t remember?’ O’Sullivan said on Eurosport.
Alan McManus offered: ‘I think he said you should retire.’
‘Has he been saying much this year?’ O’Sullivan asked. ‘I think he’s learned to be quiet. Don’t rattle my cage!
‘I’m just having fun. I love it when they call me out, I love it when they give me stick, I love it, it turns me on, I get off on it.
‘I need it to fire me up so I’m hoping someone says something, so I can have a reason to perform. But they’re not going to say it now, they probably realise it’s not a good tactic.’
It was a fair warning from O’Sullivan, but Vafaei has not taken it, instead deciding to give Ronnie’s cage a good old rattle and risk turning him on!
After beating Ding Junhui in round one, Hossein told the BBC: ‘I think Ronnie O’Sullivan is such a legend, such a good player when he’s on the table. I think he’s such a nice person when he’s sleeping, he’s just such a nice person when he’s asleep, you know what I mean.
‘It’s going to be a great match for the people I think sports need to have people like us who show something, at least.’
When told about O’Sullivan’s illness that he was suffering during his round one win over Pang Junxu, Vafaei dismissed it as an excuse and then revealed a serviceable impression of the Englishman.
‘He always finds an excuse for himself, he’s been like that for 30 years,’ he said, before having a go at an Essex accent as he added: ‘Alright, mate!’
Vafaei then went on to explain that his problem with O’Sullivan really began when they last played each other, in a low-key German Masters qualifier, played in Cannock in October 2021.
The Rocket is not a fan of playing those kind of matches and didn’t really apply himself properly, most notably in the final frame when he smashed up the pack of reds from his break-off on his way to losing 5-0.
Vafaei had not previously explained that it was this match which saw him turn on a man who was his hero, but it was then that the ill-feeling stems from.
‘Ronnie was my hero,’ Vafaei told Eurosport. ‘I could never see myself beating him. When I beat him 5-0 I was a little bit sad, but on another side happy because I showed I can play.
‘He will remember that, 100 per cent. Play like a man. Don’t play mind games or smash the balls and disrespect me when 70 or 80 million people are watching me in Iran. Now he’s my opponent. This is life.
‘I believe that everything happens for a reason, you can’t run away. If you do something bad to the people and break someone else’s heart, then God will give you an opportunity to get revenge.’
O’Sullivan has again tried to play down his side of the feud, suggesting it is easy for players to make comments about him because they are regularly asked questions about him by the media.
However, he did remind Vafaei again that it will be used as motivation when they meet over three sessions from Friday to Sunday.
‘I don’t know what to say, really, other than I wish every snooker player well,’ the world champion told Eurosport.
‘We are all on this circuit together and you can’t begrudge any good results so I hold no hard feelings for anyone because obviously it is a tough gig and we are all here just trying to do our best.
‘So I don’t take it personally. I think I’m kind of used to that, I had it as a junior growing up, I had it as an amateur, I had it as an early-season pro, and you still continue to get it.
‘I think maybe I am a bit of an easy target because if I do an interview about my own game or whatever, obviously they will pick something out and there will be a headline. If I’m not playing, then generally they will ask other players what they think about what I’ve said, and the interview is about them talking about me.
‘So I can’t win, really – do you know what I mean? The press is always going to find a question to ask someone. Some people are going to have stronger opinions than others so they are going to voice those opinions. It just is what it is.
‘I like having something to prove, but I don’t make it a personal thing, I just use it to fire myself up.’
The grudge match begins at 2.30pm on Friday 21 April.
MORE : Barry Hearn relishing Ronnie O’Sullivan and Hossein Vafaei’s ‘crash, bang, wallop’ rivalry
MORE : Mark Williams and John Higgins give their takes on Hossein Vafaei vs Ronnie O’Sullivan feud
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