The draw for the first round of the World Snooker Championships was made earlier today, with Ronnie O’Sullivan’s clash with Chinese ace Liang Wenbo the pick of the Crucible openers.

Elsewhere, defending champion John Higgins begins his campaign against Barry Hawkins, while qualifier Ken Doherty faces a battle against Mark Selby to reach the second round.

Steve Davis will be making a record breaking 30th appearance at this year’s World Championships and opens up against Mark King.

The tournament gets underway on the 17th April.

World Championship 1st Round draw:

John Higgins v Barry Hawkins
Mark King v Steve Davis
Neil Robertson v Fergal O’Brien
Marco Fu v Martin Gould
Ali Carter v Jamie Cope
Joe Perry v Michael Holt
Ding Junhui v Stuart Pettman
Shaun Murphy v Gerrard Greene
Stephen Maguire v Stephen Lee
Peter Ebdon v Graeme Dott
Mark Allen v Tom Ford
Ryan Day v Mark Davis
Mark Selby v Ken Doherty
Stephen Hendry v Anda Zhang
Mark Williams v Marcus Campbell
Ronnie O’Sullivan v Liang Wenbo