By Elliott West
‘That’s what it is. There’s no life for us here really, it’s just snooker and snooker’.
Soheil Vahedi
Introduction
Much is written about the top snooker players in the sport and what about those lower ranked players who struggle to see the light of day and are regularly shut out from the television tables? One such sportsman is the very talented Iranian player, Soheil Vahedi from Tehran. Someone who has had to leave his country, to seek a better life on our shores. A bittersweet pill that is often hard to swallow when you suddenly lose your place on the main tour due to inconsistent results and have the prospect of having to climb that mountain again through the gruelling process of Q School.
The Darkest Hour
Now 32 years old, Vahedi is ranked number 99 in the world, falling out of the safety net of the top 64. Setting up a home in Darlington, County Durham, Soheil lives with his wife and son Radine. Describing the birth of his son as a ‘born again’ moment, this joy has been blighted by the sweeping tide of Coronavirus that has hit this country over the last year. As a consequence, his then pregnant wife, had to remain isolated at home, leaving the family home, just nine times in ten months, for a walk.
Rather than fleeing a war torn country, this has been the complete opposite for the Vahedi family. They left a comfortable life in Tehran because his wife could see the burning ambition in her husbands’ eyes. This was a team effort and with marriage, comes the vow to remain together for better and for worse. This is a partnership that exerts the hugest strains on love, leaving his wife to run the household while her husband spends long periods away from home, trying to perfect his game.
Snooker is the only thing Soheil has known for the last twenty years since completing his national service in the Iranian army in 2012. It is a sport that pulsates through his veins with the hope that true success is just around the corner. He wants to hate the lifestyle but can’t. If he did, he could give up the dream and never know what it is like to find stardom on the main stage. Earning just £25,000 last season, Vahedi was struck a painful blow when he was defeated in the recent World Championship qualifiers. A defeat that left him stunned and momentarily glued to his chair at the National English Institute. A tactic that he used to regain his positive mindset.
Soheil argues that even if he wanted to, he couldn’t work in any other sector because of the restrictions of his visa, issued for being an elite sportsman. An argument that the WPBSA chairman Jason Ferguson firmly rejects, saying:
‘He currently has a visa as an elite sportsman which is appropriate to allow him to compete on the World Snooker Tour. If he wants to work in a different sector, he would need to apply for the relevant visa. WST and the WPBSA are always willing to give support, advice and encouragement to all players, as the growth of snooker around the world is our greatest ambition’.
Jason Ferguson
Vahedi had already experienced the knocks of snooker, having to qualify through Q School in 2019. Now he has to do it again and the moment is rapidly approaching. Soheil will be one of the many players that travel to Ponds Forge International Sports Centre in Sheffield from the 27 May to 13 June, to chase the dream of becoming a professional player.
