Iran’s Hossein Vafaei became the first qualifier to beat a seeded player at the 2026 World Championship as he defeated China’s Si Jiahui 10-3 to set up a tie with world number one Judd Trump.
Si, a semi-finalist in 2023, held a 3-1 lead, but 31-year-old Vafaei, ranked 32nd in the world, won nine frames in a row, thanks to breaks of 81, 61, 60, 105, 53, 78 and 68.
Over the last three frames of the first session on Wednesday and the four frames on Thursday, 15th seed Si only scored a combined 64 points as Vafaei impressed.
He will play 2019 winner Trump next and said: “He is one of my friends and a nice guy on and off the table. He is the world number one so it’s the best match.
“I’m getting a lot of support from back home and they would love me to do very good in this tournament.
“Si is one of the best players China has so a tough opponent for me, I respect his game and I’m one of his fans, he is such a great player.”
All of the opening 14 matches in the tournament were won by the seeded player, with Vafaei’s victory ensuring there cannot be a clean sweep.
However, the record of 15 out of the 16 seeds winning in the first round, set in 1983 and matched in 1993, could be equalled, but only if fourth seed Neil Robertson defeats China’s Pang Junxu.
The Australian, the 2010 world champion, holds a 5-4 lead, with that match played to a finish in Thursday’s evening session from 19:00 BST.
In the first of the last-16 matches, 2005 winner Shaun Murphy moved into a dominant 6-2 lead over China’s Xiao Guodong.
Murphy scraped through 10-9 against Fan Zhengyi in the first round, calling his match-winning break of 50 in the decider the best break he had ever made at the Crucible after he had trailed 53-17.
But the 43-year-old Englishman found this session to be calmer as he made breaks of 79, 103, 63 and 64 to go 5-0 ahead.
World number nine Xiao took the next two frames, but Murphy ended the session well as took the last with a run of 61 to have a four-frame lead in the first-to-13 match.
That match resumes on Friday at 10:00 and Murphy could win it with a session to spare if he wins seven of the eight frames in that session. The third session, if needed, will take place from 19:00.
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