Ronnie O'Sullivan learns World Snooker Championship draw fate as Crucible pairings revealed

Ronnie O'Sullivan will meet Jackson Page in the first round of the World Snooker Championships as he bids to lift a record eighth title.

The world number one will has his eyes on the big prize at the Crucible as the Sheffield venue takes centre stage with the tournament getting up and running on Saturday. A host of big names joined O'Sullivan in the draw with the top 16 ranked players in the world booking a spot in the hat automatically and they have been joined by 16 players who have made it through the qualifying rounds.

Defending champion Luca Brecel will get his defence of his crown under way at the weekend and he's paired against David Gilbert while John Higgins gets his bid for glory underway in a battle with Jamie Jones.

World Snooker Championship draw in full

Zhang Anda (11) vs Jak Jones,Luca Brecel (1) vs David Gilbert, Tom Ford (14) vs Ricky Walden, Ding Junhui (7) vs Jack Lisowski, Ali Carter (9) vs Stephen Maguire, Shaun Murphy (8) vs Lyu Haotian, Mark Allen (4) vs Robbie Williams, Mark Selby (5) vs Joe O'Connor, Kyren Wilson (12) vs Dominic Dale, Gary Wilson (10) vs Stuart Bingham, Barry Hawkins (15) vs Ryan Day, Robert Milkins (16) vs Pang Junxu, Judd Trump (3) Hossein Vafaei, John Higgins (13) vs Jamie Jones, Mark Williams (6) vs Si Jiahui, Ronnie O'Sullivan (2) vs Jackson Page

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