Vafaei received a wildcard to participate at the 2012 World Open, but lost 5–2 against Mark King. In April 2012, he won ACBS Asian Under-21 Snooker Championship, by defeating Zhang Anda 6–2 in the final. He reached the semi-finals of ACBS Asian Snooker Championship, where he lost 6–3 to Aditya Mehta.