Iran’s Hossein Vafaei became the first qualifier to beat a seeded player at the 2026 World Snooker Championship by defeating China’s Si Jiahui 10-3 in the opening round at the Crucible Theatre.
Vafaei overcame an early deficit to win nine consecutive frames
Si Jiahui, a semi-finalist in 2023 and the 15th seed, held a 3-1 lead before Vafaei won the next nine frames in a row. The Iranian player, ranked 32nd in the world, compiled breaks of 81, 61, 60, 105, 53, 78 and 68 during that run. Over the last three frames of the first session on Wednesday and the four frames on Thursday, Si scored only a combined 64 points.
Vafaei will face world number one Judd Trump in the second round
The victory sets up a second-round match against Judd Trump, the 2019 world champion and current world number one. Vafaei described Trump as “one of my friends and a nice guy on and off the table” and said playing the world number one is “the best match.” He acknowledged receiving strong support from Iran and expressed respect for Si Jiahui, calling him “one of the best players China has” and “such a great player.”
All other first-round matches were won by seeded players
Vafaei’s win prevented a clean sweep by seeded players in the opening round of the 2026 World Snooker Championship. All 14 other first-round matches were won by seeded players, meaning 15 out of 16 seeds would win if fourth seed Neil Robertson defeats China’s Pang Junxu in their ongoing match. That would equal the record set in 1983 and matched in 1993 for the most seeds winning in the first round.
Who is Hossein Vafaei?
Hossein Vafaei is a 31-year-old Iranian snooker player ranked 32nd in the world who entered the 2026 World Snooker Championship through the qualifying rounds.
What was significant about Vafaei’s victory over Si Jiahui?
Vafaei became the first qualifier to defeat a seeded player at the 2026 World Snooker Championship, breaking a streak where all 14 previous first-round matches were won by seeded players.