‘An act of self-sabotage’ – Hossein Vafaei’s wild break gifts frame to Ronnie O’Sullivan at World Snooker Championship

Hossein Vafaei lit the blue touchpaper before his match with Ronnie O’Sullivan, and ramped up the temperature by smashing the balls open from the break in the second frame.

Vafaei looked a little sheepish in the corridor before the match, and the pre-game fistbump was somewhat icy.

O’Sullivan took the opening frame with a break of 78 – and was gifted the second by Vafaei’s wild approach.

The classic break is to slide off the side of the pack and return the cue ball to baulk.

Mark Williams has mastered the roll into the bunch, but Vafaei went the other way by throwing his cue at the white at the start of the second – sending balls flying round the table.

“An act of self-sabotage, a gift for O’Sullivan,” was Phil Studd’s assessment in the Eurosport commentary box.

“An extraordinary thing to, why he would do that I don’t know,” added Neal Foulds. “Maybe if you relate it to horse racing, he has boiled over in the paddock.

“It is up to him how he plays, but not sure that will hurt O’Sullivan to have six reds to go at and the colours open.“

As Studd said, it was a gift for O’Sullivan and he did not look it in the mouth as he knocked in a second consecutive break of 78 to double his advantage.

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