Snooker:Ireland's Ken Doherty will take on the 2010 world champion, Neil Robertson in the opening round of the Snooker World Championship, which begins at the Crucible, Sheffield on Saturday.
The Dubliner and 1997 world champion came through the qualification process, but he faces a tough assignment in taking on the Australian. He might take heart from the fact that Robertson lost in the first round last year as defending champion to Judd Trump who eventually went all the way to the final before losing out.
Ronnie O’Sullivan will tackle his Crucible nemesis Peter Ebdon in the first round. The latter was the player all the seeds wanted to avoid, after he won the China Open at the start of April and followed that with a 10-0 demolition of Alfie Burden in the final qualifying round last night.
But crowd favourite O’Sullivan in particular will be unimpressed at drawing the 2002 world champion today, given their history in Sheffield. Ebdon defeated a 20-year-old O’Sullivan in the 1996 semi-finals, before that was avenged at the quarter-final stage in 2001.
Their 2005 quarter-final meeting ranks as one of the most memorable matches in recent World Championship history, as O’Sullivan saw a 10-6 lead slip away during a dramatic evening session when Ebdon’s slow play left his opponent, with his attacking game blunted, apparently bewildered and helpless.
Ebdon took the match 13-11, and despite three-time world champion O’Sullivan posting four big wins over the 41-year-old away from Sheffield since that day, their history at the Crucible makes the clash next Monday and Tuesday a date for the diary.
John Higgins will begin the defence of his title against China’s Liang Wenbo at 10am on Saturday, day one of the tournament. Luca Brecel, the 17-year-old Belgian who will be the youngest player to appear at the World Championship, was handed a tricky opening match against Scotland’s Stephen Maguire.
Stephen Hendry, who joined Liang, Ebdon and Brecel in coming through the qualifying stage, was hoping to avoid a Saturday start as he does not return from a business trip to China until Friday.
However, the seven-time champion must play Stuart Bingham on Saturday afternoon. Should Hendry survive that test he would face the winner of the clash between his fellow Scot Higgins and Liang. Hendry and Higgins have never played each other at the Crucible, and Higgins is eager for that to happen this year.
World number one Mark Selby, who has been troubled by a back problem, was drawn to face Barry Hawkins in an all-English contest, while last year’s runner-up Judd Trump will tackle Welshman Dominic Dale.
Two-time winner Mark Williams, Wales’ biggest hope for the title, was handed a clash with Chinese player Liu Chuang. China’s 2011 losing semi-finalist Ding Junhui starts against another Welshman in Ryan Day, while Northern Ireland’s Mark Allen plays Ding’s compatriot Cao Yupeng, who will be making his Crucible debut.
Shaun Murphy, the 2005 champion, tackles another player making his first appearance, as Welshman Jamie Jones stands in the English cueman’s way.