Mark Allen faces Fan Zhengyi in first round of World Snooker Championship at the Crucible
Antrim’s Mark Allen has been drawn against Fan Zhengyi in the opening round of the World Snooker Championship at the Crucible in Sheffield, which begins on Saturday.
Allen, who crashed out of the tournament in the second round last year, faces a difficult opener against the 2022 European Masters champion, who is ranked 46th in the world.
However, the world-ranked No.8 will be the favourite to progress to the next stage in his quest to win the event for the first time and claim the top prize of £500,000.
Allen was beaten in the world semi-finals in 2023 by Shaun Murphy and reached the same stage of the tournament in 2009, when he lost to John Higgins.
Seven-time champion Ronnie O’Sullivan was drawn to face long-term rival Ali Carter in the first round.
The 49-year-old, who is seeded fifth, defeated Carter in the 2008 and 2012 finals at the Crucible.
O’Sullivan has not played competitively since snapping his cue after withdrawing from the Championship League in January.
He pulled out of five of the last six World Snooker Tour events on medical grounds and has yet to confirm if he will play in this year’s tournament.
O’Sullivan and Carter, who overcame a neck injury to qualify, have endured a rocky relationship and notably clashed following last year’s Masters final.
O’Sullivan said his opponent was “not a nice person” during an expletive-laden rant following his 10-7 victory in that match after Carter accused him of “snotting all over the floor”.
World number five O’Sullivan has been an ever-present at the Crucible since turning professional in 1992.
Kyren Wilson will begin his title defence against debutant Lei Peifan when action starts on Saturday morning, while world number one Judd Trump – the 2019 winner – has been paired with Zhou Yuelong.
Four-time champion Mark Selby, who was in Salford to help conduct the draw on Thursday morning, is set to face fellow Leicester native Ben Woollaston.
Masters champion Murphy will play debutant Daniel Wells, four-time winner Higgins takes on Joe O’Connor and three-time champion Mark Williams faces 21-year-old Wu Yize.
With a record 10 Chinese players in the draw, 2016 finalist Ding Junhui will take on Crucible newcomer Zak Surety.
Luca Brecel, the 2023 champion, starts against Ryan Day, while 2010 winner Neil Robertson takes on Chris Wakelin.
In the other first-round matches, Barry Hawkins has been paired with Hossein Vafaei, David Gilbert plays Si Jiahui, Xiao Guodong takes on Matthew Selt and China’s Zhang Anda plays compatriot Pang Junxu.