World Snooker Championship: Mark Williams on Ronnie O'Sullivan vs Hossein Vafaei feud - 'Why would you wind him up?'

Mark Williams has weighed in on the ongoing spat between reigning champion Ronnie O'Sullivan and Hossein Vafaei at the World Snooker Championship ahead of their battle in the last 16 at the Crucible Theatre. Vafaei has said he wants to «shut» O'Sullivan's mouth in what was an astonishing broadside after setting up their eagerly-anticipated showdown in Sheffield.

Ad O'Sullivan and Vafaei already have a long-standing prickly relationship after they had a tense verbal exchange at last year's championship, and the pair have taken media opportunities to keep the feud alive. World ChampionshipVafaei says he wants to 'shut' O’Sullivan’s mouth in astonishing attack on former hero20 HOURS AGO Vafaei told O'Sullivan to retire for being «disrespectful» and claimed the seven-time world champion was «not good for the game», questioning «what has he done for the sport?» O'Sullivan appeared to be relishing the prospect of a showdown with Vafaei after his first-round win at the Crucible as he warned him, «don't rattle my cage», in an interview on Eurosport.

Williams wondered aloud while laughing as he listened to Vafaei's comments on a phone in the Eurosport studio, «why would you wind him up?» «He will probably win with a session to spare now,» the Welshman added as a prediction, backing O'Sullivan to respond very impressively to the broadside. «He said he used to be his friend, but he said 'yeah, not any more'.