Hossein Vafaei produced a stunning display of scoring to beat Ding Junhui 10-6 and set up a grudge match with defending champion Ronnie O'Sullivan in the Cazoo World Championship.
Vafaei trailed 5-4 overnight but rattled off the first four frames when play resumed on Monday morning at the Crucible, the Iranian making breaks of 117, 122, 68 and 57 in rapid succession.
Ding stopped the rot after the mid-session interval with a break of 77, only for Vafaei to end a safety exchange in frame 15 with an audacious plant into the middle pocket, despite the cue ball being tight on the cushion.
That led to a break of 89 and Vafaei sealed an impressive win in the next frame to secure a showdown with O’Sullivan in the last 16.
"Ahhhh!" 😅
— World Snooker Tour (@WeAreWST) April 17, 2023
The unbelievable to the ridiculous from Hossein Vafaei 💥#CazooWorldChampionship | @CazooUK pic.twitter.com/uVZrUZt2Pd
Vafaei had called on O’Sullivan to retire last year and stated he was "not good for the game" and "sometimes disrespectful" with his comments about other players.
When reminded after his first-round win over Pang Junxu that he could face Vafaei next, O’Sullivan asked: "What did he say about me? I can’t remember."
Eurosport pundit Alan McManus responded: "I think he said you should retire," to which O’Sullivan replied: "Has he been saying much about me this year? I think he’s learned to be quiet.
"Don’t rattle my cage. I love it when they call me out, I love it when they give me stick. I just love it.
"It turns me on. I get off on it. I need something to find so I’m hoping someone says something and hopefully I get better so I can have a reason to perform.
"They are not going to say anything now are they, because they probably realised it’s not a good tactic to play. We’ll see, but we’ll have some fun."
Vafaei added more to his previous comments after beating Ding this morning.
The Rocket claimed he was ill during his 10-6 success over Pang.
The Iranian said the seven-times world champion was "always finding an excuse" and has "always been like that" when discussing the champion's comments, before beginning an apparent impression of the 47-year-old.
He added: "If I beat my hero, well he used to be my hero, I'm going to be dangerous for the tournament.
"I'm not going to disrespect all of the players. So many are playing well, like Neil Robertson, who is such a tough opponent for this tournament.
"I think Ronnie O'Sullivan is such a legend, such a good player when he’s on the table.
"I think he’s such a nice person when he’s sleeping, he’s just such a nice person when he’s asleep, you know what I mean.
"It’s going to be a great match for the people I think sports need to have people like us who show something, at least."
In the morning's other match, Northern Ireland’s Mark Allen held off a fightback from China’s Fan Zhengyi to open up a 6-3 lead.
Fan trailed 5-0 before taking the next three frames in quick succession with the aid of breaks of 122 and 110, but Allen took the last frame of the session in a contest which plays to a conclusion on Monday evening.
