- Written by Stephen Sutcliffe
- bbc sports
venue: Crucible Theatre, Sheffield date: From April 20th to May 6th |
coverage: Watch live on BBC TV, BBC iPlayer and BBC Sport websites and apps. Live text coverage of selected matches. Stay up to date with Radio 5 Live. |
Ronnie O’Sullivan will face Jackson Page in the first round of the World Championship as he seeks a record eighth title in the modern era.
O’Sullivan, 48, is also aiming to become the fourth player to win all three Triple Crown events in a season.
Defending champion Luca Brecel will face David Gilbert, while 2019 winner Judd Trump will face Hossein Bafai.
The tournament begins on Saturday at Sheffield’s Crucible Theater and will be broadcast live across the BBC.
Joe O’Connor, played by four-time winner Mark Selby, makes it through the preliminaries and becomes the only debutant in the draw.
Another four-time champion, John Higgins, will face Jamie Jones, who defeated 2010 champion Neil Robertson in the final round of qualifying.
Mark Williams, who won the latest of his three titles in 2018, arrived at the Crucible having just won the prestigious Tour Championship, but faced a tough battle with Shi Jiahui, who reached the semi-finals 12 months earlier. He will face his first match.
Mark Allen, who has won three tournaments this season, will take on Robbie Williams, 2005 winner Shaun Murphy will take on Liu Haotian, and there could be an interesting matchup between Ding Junhui and Jack Lisowski. be.
Gary Wilson will look to build on his success at the Scottish Open and Welsh Open when he faces another former champion, Stuart Bingham.
Kyren Wilson will be the oldest qualifier since Steve Davis in 2010 and will be looking to avoid an upset with 52-year-old Dominic Dale, making his first appearance since 2014.
1st round draw
Luca Brecel v David Gilbert
Robert Milkins v Pan Junshu
Ali Carter v Stephen Maguire
Sean Murphy v Liu Haotian
Mark Selby v Joe O’Connor
Kyren Wilson v Dominic Dale
John Higgins v Jamie Jones
Mark Allen v Robbie Williams
Judd Trump vs Hossein Bafai
Mark Williams v Shi Jiahui
Ding Junhui v Jack Lisowski
Gary Wilson v Stuart Bingham
Ronnie O’Sullivan v Jackson Page