Hossein Vafaei produced the first Crucible victory of his career with a 10-6 win over world No. 16 Ding Junhui to progress to the second round.
Vafaei will play defending champion Ronnie O'Sullivan next. The pair have engaged in a verbal battle in the last year with Vafaei telling O'Sullivan to retire for being «disrespectful».
Ad Vafaei claimed seven-time world champion O'Sullivan was «not good for the game» and questioned «what has he done for the sport?» World ChampionshipO'Sullivan told to 'always enjoy it' as White reflects on keys of snooker longevity4 HOURS AGO O'Sullivan appeared to be relishing the prospect of a showdown with Vafaei after his first-round win at the Crucible as he warned «don't rattle my cage».
Against Ding, Vafaei began the session 5-4 down but he stylishly reeled off four frames in a row to take a commanding lead. The Iranian got off to the perfect start with a break of 117 before following up with another ton to take a 6-5 lead.