Hossein Vafaei ‘not going to buckle’ against Ronnie O’Sullivan at the World Snooker Championship, says Mark Selby

Hossein Vafaei is “not going to buckle” against Ronnie O’Sullivan in their second-round World Championship grudge match, reckons Mark Selby.

And now Selby, a four-time champion at the Crucible and a man who knows both players well, gave his take on the saga and the upcoming match.

“For the game in general it shakes it up a bit, gets people involved, gets people interested,” Selby said.

“It’s no different to boxing, I suppose, when they get on well but they jazz it up to make the fight bigger than what it is.

“It’ll be a good game. I’ve got a lot of respect for Hossein, for him to get where he has in the game, considering when he couldn’t play in every tournament due to his visa issues, because that could have easily done his confidence in.

“He’s a great player and got every chance against Ronnie, I think.”

Some have questioned the wisdom of Vafaei being so vocal towards O’Sullivan before their encounter and whether he can back up his words, but Selby refuted those claims.

“He does [back it up],” the 39-year-old Englishman said. “I played him in the Masters. I think he’s a big time player. 2,000 people at the Masters, he’s not been there before and he played great against me there.

“He’s one of the qualifiers people didn’t want because you know he’s not going to buckle, he thrives on the occasion.

“It’s going to be a tough game for him, of course, Ronnie is the all-time great and it’s like playing in his backyard, so it’s going to be tough and he needs to get off to a good start, but there’s no reason why he can’t.

“If you stick with him, he’s only human, everyone feels nerves and misses balls, but if you keep giving him chances then obviously you’re not going to win.”

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