Ronnie O'Sullivan learns fate in World Snooker Championship draw ahead of Crucible action
Ronnie O'Sullivan will hope to defend his World Snooker Championship crown.
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Ronnie O’Sullivan will begin his defence of the World Snooker Championship against Pang Junxu. The snooker icon is hoping to win a record eighth World Championship at the Crucible over the coming weeks.
The Englishman beat Judd Trump in last year's final to match Stephen Hendry's record of seven titles. He can go one better by retaining the trophy come the final on May 1.
O'Sullivan faces a tough challenge against the World No 35 Junxu when the tournament begins next week. Chinese star Junxu was the 2021 Rookie of the Year and the 23-year-old will hope to cause an upset against one of the favourites.
And O’Sullivan knows he is in for a big challenge if he is to retain the World Championship, which he has now won just twice in 10 years. The Rocket recently named eight stars who could be fighting to win the sport’s most prestigious prize.
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"There are so many good players around like [Shaun] Murphy, Judd [Trump], Neil Robertson, John Higgins, Mark Williams, Mark Allen and Ding Junhui,” O’Sullivan told Eurosport.
"They're such good players and you see Shaun Murphy beat Mark Selby in the last tournament. He also beat him in the tournament before.
"Everyone's kind of beating each other. So it's really difficult to say this one, that one. There’s some really, really fantastic players. Selby’s done great – he’s won a lot of tournaments. He's definitely up there. But this is the World Championship, this is a different test and there's a lot of snooker to be played in Sheffield."
Elsewhere, Judd Trump begins against Scottish qualifier Anthony McGill. Mark Selby faces fellow Englishman Matt Selt.
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Draw in full
Ronnie O’Sullivan (1) v Pang Junxu
Ding Junhui (16) v Hossein Vafaei
Luca Brecel (9) v Ricky Walden
Mark Williams (8) v Jimmy Robertson
Judd Trump (5) v Anthony McGill
Jack Lisowski (12) v Noppon Saengkham
Robert Milkins (13) v Joe Perry
Shaun Murphy (4) v Si Jiahui deb amaatue
Mark Allen (3) v Fan Zhengyi deb
Stuart Bingham (14) v Dave Gilbert
Ali Carter (11) v Jak Jones deb
Neil Robertson (6) v Wu Yize deb
Kyren Wilson (7) v Ryan Day
John Higgins (10) v David Grace
Gary Wilson (15) v Elliot Slessor
Mark Selby (2) v Matt Selt
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