Ronnie O’Sullivan faces a huge Crucible grudge clash on Friday after Hossein Vafaei lit the blue touchpaper on their last-16 match.
The Rocket is bidding for a record eighth World Championship success in Sheffield this year and next faces fiery Iranian Vafaei in the second round.
But after an impressive 10-6 win on Monday over Chinese superstar Ding Junhui, the 28-year-old Vafaei reignited his running feud with the world No1.
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The root of the bitter rift came in a German Masters qualifier last season, when O’Sullivan – trailing 4-0 – just recklessly smashed up the reds from the break.
Vafaei took huge offence and last year urged O’Sullivan to retire, while slamming him for a lack of respect towards other players.
Not to be outdone, O'Sullivan, 47, warned the ‘Prince of Persia’ over the weekend not to “rattle my cage” and suggested that such taunts only fired him up.
But Vafaei, who used to hang around with O’Sullivan and Jimmy White, sounded like a man on a mission yesterday as he cut loose and stoked up this week’s encounter to boiling point.
Vafaei even openly mocked O’Sullivan on TV after his win – mimicking the Rocket’s accent and claiming his “bug” during a first-round win over Pang Junxu was “more excuses.”
He said: “Ronnie disrespected me before – and God gives us opportunities for revenge. It depends on me, and I said that to God myself.
“I said to him ‘Don’t make that happen, because if you do make it happen then I am going to do the same what he done to me – and the same what I did when I beat him 5-0’.
“He will remember that, that wasn’t nice. Play like a man, don’t play mind games and disrespect me and smash the balls around when 70-80 million people are watching me in Iran.
“Ronnie is such a legend and such a good player…at the table. I respect him there and it will be a great match for people to watch, also because of what has gone on in the past.
“I heard a few days ago he was talking about me, telling me to be quiet or something like that. Ronnie is such a nice person…when he is asleep.
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“People sent it to me, what he said a few days ago. I was keeping quiet, it doesn’t bother me, it’s just words.
“It’s good in sport to talk like this, or make something happen - don’t be boring, say something about your opponent. People see that news and then think they will watch the snooker.
“It will be a good atmosphere, this match, because in the past maybe we don’t have something like this with all the talking.
“A young person standing up against a legend of their sport. If he beats me 13-0, I’ll get up the next day and go and practise eight hours a day. Nothing will make me sad or cry.
“I am not scared of this guy. My life was tough, and I love tough. I have seen so many things in life, a game of snooker isn’t going to scare me.
“I am an honest person and being around him in the past was affecting me.
“You want to learn from your hero but I was learning the bad things more than good things. And that was affecting me to disrespect my family and friends around me.
“I don’t wish any bad things to happen to him. And I hope he wins the Sports Personality one time. Maybe he should think about why he hasn’t won it before, he should have won it many times.”
Vafaei was whipping up the crowd during his win against Ding, and celebrated in style at the end in front of one of the arena cameras.
He added: “That was one of the best performances of my career against Ding, because he is a hero and a legend in China and also to me. The Crucible is going to be my home, so I have to get used to it.
“I enjoyed it, and also getting the fans involved. We should show some entertainment and give the fans some words out there. Don’t be boring!
“I love it here at the Crucible, and I have nothing to lose. I came here from another country on my own to play at the highest standard possible. This is still the beginning of my career. If I keep learning like this, I am going to do some damage in the future.”
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