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Hossein Vafaei has claimed the Crucible must be respected and called it snooker’s answer to Wimbledon two years on from his scathing criticism of the world championship venue.
In 2024 the Iranian described the Crucible as “smelly” and compared the practice facilities to “like playing in a garage”. But after last month’s announcement that snooker’s showpiece will remain in Sheffield until at least 2045, Vafaei highlighted the importance of the Crucible to the sport.
After winning all four frames on Thursday to wrap up a 10-3 victory over Si Jiahui and become the first qualifier to reach the second round of this year’s Championship, Vafaei said: “The Crucible is a historical place. You can’t compare the Crucible to anywhere else because the Crucible is the home of snooker for all the snooker players.
