Top 10 shots of 2021/22 snooker season: No. 6 – Hossein Vafaei produces miraculous escape with Welsh Open wonder shot
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Updated 20/06/2022 at 07:37 GMT
The 2021/22 season has been another remarkable campaign with an array of spectacular shots bewitching millions across the globe on Eurosport, the home of snooker. We pick 10 of our favourite shots from the past nine months. Today we recall Hossein Vafaei's miraculous pot on a red via the jaws of a centre pocket at the Welsh Open. Stream top snooker live and on-demand on discovery+.
Vafaei's miracle moment: Is this the most incredible shot in history?
After the conclusion of another extraordinary snooker season, we pick 10 of our favourite shots from the 2021/22 campaign as captured by the Eurosport cameras. You can vote for your personal choice when we reveal our final list of contenders this month.
No. 6 – Vafaei unearths remarkable red at Welsh Open
He is dubbed 'The Prince of Persia' and Hossein Vafaei's was certainly a regal moment in a season brimming with them.
Locked at 3-3 with 2007 finalist Andrew Higginson in the qualifying round in February and trailing 43-40 in the final frame, the free-wheeling Iranian professional was staring defeat in the face in Wolverhampton.
With only two reds left on the table, one wrong manoeuvre could have buried alive Vafaei's hopes when he attempted to escape from an apparently hopeless snooker.
Stuck behind the yellow on a side cushion with both reds in baulk, the outcome was spectacular as he opted for a high-risk strategy of slamming the white into the jaws rather than run the white around the angles.
In committing fully to the shot in his mind, the Shoot Out winner calculated the angles perfectly as the white raced back up to baulk before clipping the red and watching as it disappeared down the yellow bag.
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Vafaei's miracle moment: Is this the most incredible shot in history?
There was no apology afterwards which confirmed the shot was played and carried out with unerring precision.
He would win the frame 63-52 on the black to complete victory from 3-1 behind before embarking upon a rousing run.
Vafaei – who finished the campaign at a career-high ranking of 17 – was only denied a final spot at the Welsh Open by Judd Trump 6-5 having led a memorable semi-final 5-3 in Newport.
His red for the ages will live long in the memory.
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‘Knock me over!’ – Vafaei produces ‘perfect frame’ to win Shoot Out
- Top 10 shots of 2021/22: No. 6 – Vafaei produces miraculous pot on red
- Top 10 shots of 2021/22: No. 7 – Robertson's granite green in epic Masters semi-final
- Top 10 shots of 2021/22: No. 8 – Williams in the pink with masterful one-handed escape
- Top 10 shots of 2021/22: No. 9 – Allen's 'toughest' yellow in iconic Belfast 147
- Top 10 shots of 2021/22: No. 10 – O'Sullivan's magical 'cocked hat double'
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Stream top snooker live and on-demand on discovery+. You can also watch all the action live on eurosport.co.uk.
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