Hossein Vafaei

Hossein Vafaei Ayouri (Persian: حسین وفایی ایوری‎‎, born September 14, 1994 in Abadan, Iran) is an Iranian professional snooker player. He is the only Iranian professional snooker player in the history of the game. His attempts to travel to the United Kingdom to qualify for the major tournaments on the snooker calendar were denied due to visa problems, however he gained a UK visa in February 2015.

2009/2010 season

His first international tournament was the 2009 World Under-21 Amateur Snooker Championship. He reached the last 16 where he lost by five frames to three against Liu Chuang.

2010/2011 Season

He participated in the 2010 Asian Games in Guangzhou, China in the snooker singles competition and was beaten 4–1 by Dechawat Poomjaeng the last 16. In December 2010, he played in the World Amateur Snooker Championship and reached the last 16, where he lost 5–1 to Leo Fernandez.

In April 2011, he reached the final of ACBS Asian Under-21 Snooker Championship, but lost 7–3 to Cao Yupeng. Later in the month he participated in ACBS Asian Snooker Championship, however, he could not advance past the group stage. He competed in Group C, and finished in fourth place with one win and three losses.

2011/2012 season

In September 2011, he received a wildcard to participate at the Shanghai Masters, but could not advance to the first round as he lost 5–1 against Fergal O'Brien. In December, he won the World Amateur Snooker Championship by defeating Lee Walker 10–9 in the final. He won the title at the age of 17 years and 81 days, which made him the youngest ever winner of the tournament, breaking Ian Preece's record.

Vafaei received a wildcard to participate at the 2012 World Open, but lost 5–2 against Mark King. In April 2012, he won ACBS Asian Under-21 Snooker Championship, by defeating Zhang Anda 6–2 in the final. He reached the semi-finals of ACBS Asian Snooker Championship, where he lost 6–3 to Aditya Mehta.

Attempt to turn professional

He received a main snooker tour card courtesy of his World Amateur win to participate in the 2012/2013 and 2013/2014 seasons. However, due to visa problems he could only participate in the Six-red World Championship in Thailand, where he lost in the last 16 to Judd Trump, and APTC Event 2 in China, where he lost to Li Yuan in the last 64. It was a similar story in his second season as he only played in the World Games (lost 3–0 to Lü Haotian in the first round) and the Six-red World Championship (failed to advance beyond the group stage).

2014 IBSF World Under-21's Championship

In May 2014, Vafaei qualified as the top seed of his group at the 2014 IBSF World Under-21 Snooker Championship by losing only one frame in the preliminary stage. He then beat Poland's Mateusz Baranowski 7–3 in the semi-finals, compiling the ever first 147 in the history of the tournament in the process. He won the title by defeating Josh Boileau 8–3 in the final.

Special dispensation for the 2014/15 season

In June 2014, Vafaei received a special dispensation to compete on the Main Tour for the 2014/15 season. In late February 2015, it was confirmed that Vafaei had gained a visa, leaving him able to enter the 2015 World Snooker Championship, where he lost 10–3 to Anthony McGill in the opening qualifying round.

2015/2016 season

The 2015 Australian Goldfields Open was the first ranking event of the 2015/2016 season and Vafaei qualified for it by beating Charlie Walters 5–3, Zak Surety 5–3, Lee Walker 5–4 and Dominic Dale 5–3. In his debut at the venue stage of a ranking event, Vafaei played Michael White in the opening round where he lost 5–3. He played in the UK Championship for the first time (losing 6–1 to Luca Brecel in the first round) and the Welsh Open (losing 4–2 to Robin Hull in the first round).

Amateur finals

Outcome	No.	Year	Championship	Opponent in the final	Score
Winner	1.	2011	World Amateur Snooker Championship	Walker, LeeLee Walker	10–9
Winner	2.	2014	World Amateur Under-21 Snooker Championship	Boileau !Josh Boileau	8–3