Judd Trump v Hossein Vafaei live stream | World Snooker Championship 2024 preview
Trump and Vafaei collide at the Crucible once more (PA Images / Alamy Stock Photo)
Judd Trump and Hossein Vafaei face off at the World Championship for the second time in three years at the Crucible on Saturday.
One of the standout ties in the opening round of this year’s tournament, the pair also collided at this stage in Sheffield in 2022, with Trump prevailing a 10-4 winner over the debutant.
The 2019 champion went on to reach his third final that year, eventually succumbing 18-13 to an inspired Ronnie O’Sullivan.
Despite a first-round exit at the hands of Anthony McGill 12 months ago, Trump had reached at least the quarter-finals in each of the five previous years.
The world number two will certainly fancy another deep run this year following a hugely decorative 2023-24, in which he has won five ranking titles for the third time in five seasons.
And Trump, who has triumphed at the English Open, Wuhan Open, Northern Ireland Open, German Masters and World Open, could well displace O’Sullivan at the summit of the WST rankings come the conclusion of this fortnight.
Although, he has undoubtedly been handed one of the toughest first-round draws in world number 19 Vafaei.
The charismatic Iranian caused plenty of headlines last year due to his war of words with O’Sullivan ahead of their second-round clash, but it was the Rocket who let his cue do the talking as he ran out a comprehensive 13-2 winner.
Nevertheless, he is back at the Crucible for a third straight appearance following victories over Marco Fu and Jiang Jun in qualifying, and will want to make a strong finish to a campaign that has seen reach the UK Championship and British Open semi-finals, as well as the last eight at the World Open.
The winner of this best-of-19 encounter will play either Tom Ford or Ricky Walden in the World Championship second round.
Play gets under way at 2.30pm BST on Saturday with the opening nine frames, while playing to a conclusion with a maximum of 10 at the same time the following day.
How to watch Judd Trump v Hossein Vafaei live stream
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