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O'Sullivan to play China's He in Crucible round one
TL;DR
Ronnie O'Sullivan will face China's He Guoqiang in the first round of the World Snooker Championship at the Crucible. O'Sullivan aims for his record-breaking eighth title, starting the match on Tuesday.
Key points
- Ronnie O'Sullivan is a seven-time World Snooker Champion.
- He Guoqiang is making his debut at the Crucible.
- The match will take place at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield.
Mentioned in this story
Ronnie O'SullivanHe GuoqiangCrucible Theatre
World Snooker Championship
Seven-time winner Ronnie O'Sullivan will begin his bid for a record-breaking eighth World Snooker Championship title with a match against China's debutant He Guoqiang at the Crucible.
O'Sullivan, 50, will start his first-round tie at the Sheffield theatre on Tuesday and conclude the match on Wednesday.
Sixteen players came through qualifying this week at the English Institute of Sport and will join the world's top 16 ranked players at the tournament.
He, ranked 47th in the world, qualified for the Crucible for the first time with a win over England's Jack Lisowski on Wednesday.
Zhao Xintong became the first Chinese player to clinch the world title when he won the 2025 event and will be involved in the first session of the tournament on Saturday (10:00 BST).
He will face England's Liam Highfield, who advanced through four qualifying rounds.
The draw was made on BBC Radio 5 Live Breakfast on Thursday.
Elsewhere, world number one Judd Trump will take on Gary Wilson and Masters champion Kyren Wilson will be up against 19-year-old debutant Stan Moody.
Four-time champion John Higgins will take on two-time runner-up Ali Carter, while Mark Selby, also with four Crucible titles, faces 2024 runner-up Jak Jones.
O'Sullivan and Stephen Hendry both have the most world titles in the modern era with seven apiece, with O'Sullivan winning his first one 25 years ago, in 2001.
The 17-day competition begins on Saturday, with the final starting on Sunday, 3 May and concluding the next day - with full coverage of the tournament live on the BBC.
The Crucible has staged the World Championship yearly since 1977 and last month it was announced it would remain there until 2045, with the venue set to be redeveloped to add up to 500 additional seats.
World Snooker Championship first-round draw
All first-round matches are best of 19 frames. Seeds are in brackets.
- Zhao Xintong (China, 1) v Liam Highfield (England)
- Ding Junhui (China, 16) v David Gilbert (England)
- Xiao Guodong (China, 9) v Zhou Yuelong (China)
- Shaun Murphy (England, 8) v Fan Zhengyi (China)
- John Higgins (Scotland, 5) v Ali Carter (England)
- Ronnie O'Sullivan (England, 12) v He Guoqiang (China)
- Chris Wakelin (England, 13) v Liam Pullen (England)
- Neil Robertson (Australia, 4) v Pang Junxu (China)
- Kyren Wilson (England, 3) v Stan Moody (England)
- Mark Allen (Northern Ireland, 14) v Zhang Anda (China)
- Barry Hawkins (England, 11) v Matthew Stevens (Wales)
Q&A
Who is Ronnie O'Sullivan playing in the first round of the World Snooker Championship?
Ronnie O'Sullivan is playing against China's He Guoqiang in the first round.
When does Ronnie O'Sullivan's match against He Guoqiang start?
O'Sullivan's match against He Guoqiang starts on Tuesday and concludes on Wednesday.
What is He Guoqiang's ranking in the world snooker standings?
He Guoqiang is ranked 47th in the world snooker standings.
