JOHN Higgins will begin the defence of his world snooker championship title against Barry Hawkins.
Scot Higgins, who beat Shaun Murphy in last year’s Crucible final, will get the tournament under way on April 17 in Sheffield.
Hawkins will be making his fifth consecutive appearance at the world championship.
The most tantalising ties involve two of the three Chinese players in the draw, with Liang Wenbo starting against three-time winner Ronnie O’Sullivan and 18-year-old Crucible debutant Zhang Anda playing seven-time champion Stephen Hendry.
Their fellow Chinese player Ding Junhui plays England’s Stuart Pettman.
Steve Davis, on his 30th appearance in Sheffield, will take on his fellow Romford professional Mark King, while Masters champion Mark Selby will face 1997 world champion Ken Do- herty.
Davis, who will be back in Sheffield 25 years after his defeat to Dennis Taylor in the most famous final played, is relishing his match against King.
The 52-year-old said: “I baulk at being happy because I know how hard it is at the Crucible.
“It’s not so much about who you play as how you play and you can talk yourself into one player being easier than another, but there are certain players you’d be happy to avoid, so once you’ve avoided them you can’t be displeased.”
Davis was at yesterday’s draw at Wembley Stadium.
“From the point of view of excitement it’s about the Chinese players.
“We don’t know what Liang is capable of but I don’t suppose he’s too happy, but I don’t imagine Ronnie will be absolutely delighted to play a player who is on the up.
“We also have an unknown quantity in an 18-year-old (Zhang) who has drawn the most established player at the Crucible (Hendry).”
FULL FIRST-ROUND DRAW
John Higgins (Sco) v Barry Hawkins (Eng); Mark King (Eng) v Steve Davis (Eng); Neil Robertson (Aus) v Fergal O’Brien (Eire); Marco Fu (HK) v Martin Gould (Eng); Ali Carter (Eng) v Jamie Cope (Eng); Joe Perry (Eng) v Michael Holt (Eng); Ding Junhui (China) v Stuart Pettman (Eng); Shaun Murphy (Eng) v Gerard Greene (NI); Stephen Maguire (Sco) v Stephen Lee (Eng); Peter Ebdon (Eng) v Graeme Dott (Sco); Mark Allen (NI) v Tom Ford (Eng); Ryan Day (Wales) v Mark Davis (Eng); Mark Selby (Eng) v Ken Doherty (Eire); Stephen Hendry (Sco) v Zhang Anda (China); Mark Williams (Wales) v Marcus Campbell (Sco); Ronnie O’Sullivan (Eng) v Liang Wenbo (China).