Hossein Vafaei fears snooker is becoming 'very boring' - while he also backtracked on his sensational claim that Ronnie O'Sullivan should retire from the sport.
Vafaei created history by becoming the first Iranian player to qualify for the World Championship at the Crucible this year. His breakthrough season included victory at the Shoot Out, and he has now qualified for the UK Championship at the Barbican in York.
But 'the Prince of Persia', who is passionate about growing snooker in his native Iran and beyond, has become disillusioned with his standing in the sport. Vafaei feels he is not reaping the rewards of dedicating his life to the green baize while thousands of miles from home, and is adamant changes must be made to avoid snooker going stale.
"I’m alone in this country. Sometimes it’s hard to know what I’m doing here, why I’m here," Vafaei told Metro.co.uk. "As a young person I should enjoy my life. You practice 7-8 hours a day, you don’t see anyone, you’re losing opportunities in your life.
"I’ve said that before, it’s getting boring, so boring. If this sport doesn’t change to be something big it’s going to be the same, very boring. We need this sport to get bigger, we need some change, I don’t know what it is, but I’d like to see it.
"I’d like when I go to the venue to enjoy it as a snooker player. I do 8 hours in a room, when I go to the tournament I must be happy, not like, 'oh, I’m going there.' Sorry I’m saying that, I’m always honest, I say my opinion, some people like it and some don’t."
Vafaei shocked snooker fans before his first Crucible appearance in April with his outlandish comments about O'Sullivan. He claimed the Rocket 'should retire' because of his negative outlook on snooker, which the Iranian said was 'disrespectful' given his status as the game's greatest ever player.
And Vafaei admits he may well have overstepped the mark with his controversial claims. But he still supports his idea that the onus is on seven-time world champion O'Sullivan to promote snooker as he remains the sport's unofficial flag-bearer.
"I didn’t say something really bad!’ Vafaei said when asked about his comments. "But people said, why are you talking about Ronnie like that?! I said that Ronnie is one of the legends of our sport, a genius, without doubt no one can play snooker better than him, you have to call him god of snooker, he’s a winning machine.
"I always respect him, as long as he respect me. I don’t want to start anything again talking about something and get people asking why I’m talking like that again. I just said my opinion a little bit. He’s a great man, people love him, and I wish him success.
"All I was trying to say was, do something for us please Ronnie. Snooker is in your hands. Leave something for the youngsters. I didn’t ask anything too much. If you can make the sport bigger, please do, I know it’s not his job to make snooker big, he should focus on his game, but he’s been winning 30 years, who else can do that for us? To make young players come and play snooker."
He added: "We’re putting our lives into a game. This is why I said Ronnie O’Sullivan should have a private jet, he should be like Tiger Woods, Roger Federer, look at their lifestyle. This is what I want for him!"
