SNOOKER: World number one Ronnie O'Sullivan will kick off his bid for a fourth World Snooker Championship crown with a first-round tie against Stuart Bingham. The defending champion was paired with the world number 21 at today's draw.
The tournament gets under way on April 18th at Sheffield’s Crucible Theatre.
Arguably the tie of the round sees seven-time champion Stephen Hendry meet two-time winner Mark Williams, who came through qualifying to reach this stage.
Australia’s Neil Robertson meets six-time champion Steve Davis (51), who booked his 28th appearance in the final stages of the tournament with a hard-fought qualifying win over Lee Spick yesterday.
Ali Carter, last year’s runner up, plays Northern Ireland’s Gerard Greene. Greene booked his place with a qualifying win over Ken Doherty denying the Dubliner a place at the Crucible.
Elsewhere, former semi-finalist Joe Swail meets Marco Fu while Mark Allen will face Martin Gould.
First-round draw
R O'Sullivan (Eng) v S Bingham (Eng)
M Allen (NIr) v M Gould (Eng)
P Ebdon (Eng) v N Bond (Eng)
R Day (Wal) v S Lee (Eng)
J Higgins (Sco) v M Holt (Eng)
J Perry (Eng) v J Cope (Eng)
G Dott (Sco) v B Hawkins (Eng)
M Selby (Eng) v R Walden (Eng)
S Murphy (Eng) v A Higginson (Eng)
M Fu (HK) v J Swail (NIr)
D Junhui (Chn) v L Wenbo (Chn)
S Hendry (Sco) v M Williams (Wal)
A Carter (Eng) v G Greene (NIr)
N Robertson (Aus) v S Davis (Eng)
M King (Eng) v R McLeod (Eng)
S Maguire (Sco) v J Burnett (Sco)
