Hossein Vafaei

Hossein Vafaei
Born September 14, 1994
Abadan, Iran
Sport country  Iran
Professional 2012–
Highest ranking 96 (January–February 2013)[1][2]
Current ranking 126 (as of 6 April 2015)
Career winnings £7,237[3]
Highest break Amateur: 147 (IBSF World Under-21 Championship)
Professional: 104 (2012 APTC2)
Century breaks 1[3]
Best ranking finish Wildcard round (2011 Shanghai Masters, 2012 World Open)

Hossein Vafaei Ayouri (Persian: حسین وفایی ایوری‎, born September 14, 1994 in Abadan, Iran) is an Iranian professional snooker player.[4] He is the first and the only Iranian professional snooker player in the history of the game.[5] His attempts to travel to the United Kingdom to qualify for the major tournaments on the snooker calendar have so far been denied due to visa problems, however he gained a UK visa in February 2015.

Career

Competition record
Men's Snooker
Competitor for Iran
IBSF World Snooker Championship
Champion Bangalore, India 2011
IBSF World Under-21 Snooker Championship
Champion Al Fujairah, UAE 2014
ACBS Asian Snooker Championship
Semi-Finals Doha, Qatar 2012
ACBS Asian Under-21 Snooker Championship
Champion Goa, India 2012
Runner-up Kish, Iran 2011

2009/2010 season

His first international tournament was the 2009 World Under-21 Amateur Snooker Championship. He reached the last 16 where he lost by five frames to three against Liu Chuang.[6]

2010/2011 Season

He participated in the 2010 Asian Games in Guangzhou, China in the snooker singles competition and was beaten 4–1 by Dechawat Poomjaeng the last 16.[7] In December 2010, he played in the World Amateur Snooker Championship and reached the last 16, where he lost 5–1 to Leo Fernandez.[8]

In April 2011, he reached the final of ACBS Asian Under-21 Snooker Championship, but lost 7–3 to Cao Yupeng.[9] Later in the month he participated in ACBS Asian Snooker Championship, however, he could not advance past the group stage. He competed in Group C, and finished in fourth place with one win and three losses.[10]

2011/2012 season

In September 2011, he received a wildcard to participate at the Shanghai Masters, but could not advance to the first round as he lost 5–1 against Fergal O'Brien.[11] In December, he won the World Amateur Snooker Championship by defeating Lee Walker 10–9 in the final.[12][13] He won the title at the age of 17 years and 81 days, which made him the youngest ever winner of the tournament, breaking Ian Preece's record.[14]

Vafaei received a wildcard to participate at the 2012 World Open,[15] but lost 5–2 against Mark King.[16] In April 2012, he won ACBS Asian Under-21 Snooker Championship, by defeating Zhang Anda 6–2 in the final.[17] He reached the semi-finals of ACBS Asian Snooker Championship, where he lost 6–3 to Aditya Mehta.[18]

Attempt to turn professional

He received a main snooker tour card courtesy of his World Amateur win to participate in the 2012/2013 and 2013/2014 seasons.[5][19] However, due to visa problems he could only participate in the Six-red World Championship in Thailand, where he lost in the last 16 to Judd Trump, and APTC Event 2 in China, where he lost to Li Yuan in the last 64.[20] It was a similar story in his second season as he only played in the World Games (lost 3–0 to Lü Haotian in the first round) and the Six-red World Championship (failed to advance beyond the group stage).[21]

2014 IBSF World Under-21`s Championship

In May 2014, Vafaei qualified as the top seed of his group at the 2014 IBSF World Under-21 Snooker Championship by losing only one frame in the preliminary stage.[22] He then beat Poland's Mateusz Baranowski 7–3 in the semi-finals, compiling the ever first 147 in the history of the tournament in the process.[23] He won the title by defeating Josh Boileau 8–3 in the final.[24]

Special dispensation for the 2014/15 season

In June 2014, Vafaei received a special dispensation to compete on the Main Tour for the 2014/15 season.[25] In late February 2015, it was confirmed that Vafaei had gained a visa, leaving him able to enter the 2015 World Snooker Championship, where he lost 10–3 to Anthony McGill in the opening qualifying round.[25][26]

Performance and rankings timeline

Tournament 2011/
12 		2012/
13 		2013/
14 		2014/
15
Ranking[27][nb 1] UR UR[nb 2] 97 126[nb 3]
Ranking tournaments
Shanghai Masters WR WD A A
Players Championship Grand Final[nb 4] A DNQ A A
World Championship A A A LQ
Variant format tournaments
Six-red World Championship NH 2R RR QF
Former ranking tournaments
World Open WR A A NH
Performance Table Legend
LQ lost in the qualifying draw #R lost in the early rounds of the tournament
(WR = Wildcard round, RR = Round robin)		 QF lost in the quarter-finals
SF lost in the semi-finals F lost in the final W won the tournament
DNQ did not qualify for the tournament A did not participate in the tournament WD withdrew from the tournament
NH / Not held means an event was not held.
MR / Minor-ranking event means an event is/was a minor-ranking event.
NR / Non-ranking event means an event is/was no longer a ranking event.
R / Ranking event means an event is/was now a ranking event
  1. ↑ It shows the ranking at the beginning of the season.
  2. ↑ New players on the Main Tour don't have a ranking.
  3. ↑ Players qualified through special dispensation started the season without prize money ranking points.
  4. ↑ The event was called the Players Tour Championship Grand Finals (2011/2012–2012/2013)

Tournament finals

Amateur finals

Outcome No. Year Championship Opponent in the final Score
Winner 1. 2011 World Amateur Snooker Championship Wales Walker, LeeLee Walker 10–9
Winner 2. 2014 World Amateur Under-21 Snooker Championship Republic of Ireland Josh Boileau 8–3

References

  1. ↑ "Issued after the Munich Open 2013 (ET6)" (PDF). World Snooker. World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association. 7 January 2013. Retrieved 8 January 2013.
  2. ↑ "Issued after the Betfair German Masters 2013" (PDF). World Snooker. World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association. 4 February 2013. Retrieved 17 February 2013.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 "Career-total Statistics for Hossein Vafaei Ayouri - Professional". CueTracker Snooker Results & Statistics Database. Retrieved 12 April 2015.
  4. ↑ "VAFAEI AYOURI Hossein". Asian Games. Retrieved 6 December 2011.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 "Hossein Set For Pro Tour". World Snooker. Retrieved 19 May 2014.
  6. ↑ "IBSF World Under-21 Snooker Championship 2009". Cue Sports India. Retrieved 19 May 2014.
  7. ↑ "Snooker (Men) Individual". Cue Sports India. Retrieved 19 May 2014.
  8. ↑ "World Snooker Championship 2010". International Billiards and Snooker Federation. Archived from the original on 25 December 2010. Retrieved 6 June 2013.
  9. ↑ "Asian Championship 2011 - 12th Under-21 Snooker". Cue Sports India. Retrieved 6 December 2011.
  10. ↑ 2011 Asian Snooker Championship
  11. ↑ "Shanghai Masters (2011)". WWW Snooker. Retrieved 24 July 2011.
  12. ↑ "Ayouri managed, retained the title in Asia". International Billiards and Snooker Federation. Retrieved 5 December 2011.
  13. ↑ "Results of 2011 IBSF World Men's Snooker Championship". International Billiards and Snooker Federation. Retrieved 5 December 2011.
  14. ↑ Turner, Chris. "Various Snooker Records". cajt.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk. Chris Turner's Snooker Archive. Archived from the original on 10 February 2013. Retrieved 6 December 2011.
  15. ↑ "2012 Haikou World Open draw and format" (PDF). worldsnooker.com. World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association. Retrieved 22 January 2012.
  16. ↑ "Haikou World Open (2012)". WWW Snooker. Retrieved 4 March 2012.
  17. ↑ 13th Asian Under-21 Snooker Championship 2012
  18. ↑ "2012 Asian Snooker Championship". Cue Sports India. Retrieved 19 May 2014.
  19. ↑ "The Tour 2012/2013 Season Provisional Qualifying Criteria" (PDF). World Snooker. Retrieved 19 May 2014.
  20. ↑ "Hossein Vafaei Ayouri 2012/2013". Snooker.org. Retrieved 3 June 2013.
  21. ↑ "Hossein Vafaei Ayouri 2013/2014". Snooker.org. Retrieved 19 May 2014.
  22. ↑
  23. ↑ "Hossein hits the maximum". IBSF. Retrieved 19 May 2014.
  24. ↑ Pathak, Vivek (18 May 2014). "Second world title for Hossein Vafaei". International Billiards and Snooker Federation. Archived from the original on 18 May 2014. Retrieved 18 May 2014.
  25. ↑ 25.0 25.1 "Tirapongpaiboon/Ayouri Tour Cards". worldsnooker.com. World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association. 16 June 2014. Retrieved 16 June 2014.
  26. ↑ "Hossein Vafaei Ayouri 2014/2015". Snooker.org. Retrieved 8 April 2015.
  27. ↑ "Ranking History". Snooker.org. Retrieved 6 February 2011.

External links