Judd Trump backs John Virgo tip for Hossein Vafaei to have 'good run' in the World Championship

Published 05/03/2022 at 18:51 GMT

Hossein Vafaei had looked set for an appearance at Sunday's Welsh Open final when he took a lead over Judd Trump in Saturday's semi-final. Trump pulled off a gritty comeback, but after his win paid tribute to his vanquished rival and endorsed John Virgo's suggestion that he could be a dark horse for the World Championship.

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Judd Trump came from behind to reach Sunday’s Welsh Open final with a 6-5 comeback win over Hossein Vafaei, who he has tipped for possible success in the World Championship.

The Iranian looked on the cusp a final appearance of his own only to see the former world No. 1 pull off a string of frames to secure the win.

Speaking after the game, Trump said he believed that he had played worse than his opponent.

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“I think he’ll be disappointed, he was the better player. I think his safety was brilliant, every time I came to the table I seemed to be in trouble,” he said.

“His potting was better than mine so I don’t really know how I got through that one. I had to dig as deep as possible and save my best to last. It would have been nice to finish it off in the last frame with a one-visit but in the end, he just overhit his shot for the pink and missed.”

Asked about John Virgo’s suggestion that Vafaei could be in contention for the upcoming World Championship, Trump did not disagree, saying there could be more to come.

“I keep saying that he’s underachieving in the game and he showed that today," Trump said. "He’s becoming a lot more consistent. He’s pushing the top players, he’s beat me a few times. I know he’s beaten Mark Selby a few times. He’s a tough player to play against, full of confidence and plays very relaxed. A difficult player and one of the nicest people on tour.

“Every player, we’d be more than happy for him to win a big event or have a good run in the Worlds.”

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