Hossein Vafaei produces extraordinary shot in Welsh Open qualifier - is this the greatest snooker shot ever?

Hossein Vafaei produced one of the most extraordinary shots in snooker history to help him to a Welsh Open qualifying victory over Andrew Higginson. With a tight match locked at 3-3 and into a deciding frame, Vafaei found himself trapped behind the yellow and up against the cushion, with the two remaining reds hidden beyond the baulk line.

Ad/> So close to the yellow, a shot up the table was an impossibility, while the position off the other colours meant a two- or three-cushion escape around the houses would also be tough to find. Players ChampionshipHiggins beats Vafaei to advance to quarter-finals of the Players Championship09/02/2022 AT 16:33 So the Iranian tried something improbable, targeting the bottom jaw of the middle pocket to rebound back up the table towards the more exposed red.

And it worked! Vafaei's mental protractor was in fine working order, assessing the angles to perfection and catching the red flush, the ball making like a rodent for a burrow and burying itself in the top corner pocket. The precision with which the Iranian struck the shot, and the lack of an apologetic wave to his opponent, suggested the Iranian very much meant the escape, though the pot was surely just a welcome bonus.

It proved crucial, too. A place in the first round proper of the Welsh Open came down to the final black in the deciding frame, with Vafaei eventually taking it after producing another rather outstanding, though slightly more traditional, pot of the pink when trailing by two points.

Vafaei, who thrashed Ronnie O'Sullivan 5-0 at the German Masters in October of last year, will face Robbie Williams in the first round when the main draw of the Welsh Open begins in Newport at the end of February, LIVE on Eurosport. But