World Snooker Championship draw: Ronnie O'Sullivan to face Jackson Page in first round

Ronnie O'Sullivan will play Jackson Page in the first round of the World Championship as he bids for a record eighth title in the modern era.

O'Sullivan, 48, is also aiming to become the fourth player to win all three Triple Crown events in a season.

Defending champion Luca Brecel will play David Gilbert, while 2019 winner Judd Trump faces Hossein Vafaei.

The tournament begins on Saturday at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield, with live coverage across the BBC.

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Four-time winner Mark Selby plays Joe O'Connor, who came though qualifying and is the only debutant in the draw.

John Higgins - another four-time champion - will meet Jamie Jones, who defeated 2010 champion Neil Robertson in the final round of qualifying.

Mark Williams, who won the most recent of his three titles in 2018, arrives at the Crucible having recently claimed the prestigious Tour Championship, but will face a tough opener against Si Jiahui, who reached the semi-finals 12 months ago.

Mark Allen, who has won three tournaments this season, gets under way against Robbie Williams, 2005 winner Shaun Murphy plays Lyu Haotian, and there is also the prospect of an entertaining encounter between Ding Junhui and Jack Lisowski.

Gary Wilson will look to build on his successes in the Scottish and Welsh Opens when he plays another former champion in Stuart Bingham.

Kyren Wilson will look to avoid an upset against 52-year-old Dominic Dale, who is appearing for the first time since 2014, having become the oldest qualifier since Steve Davis in 2010.

O'Sullivan assumes favourite's tag

Remarkably, O'Sullivan heads to Sheffield for the 32nd time while enjoying an unbroken spell at the top of the rankings lasting more than two years and is unsurprisingly the bookmakers' favourite to triumph.

He has claimed five titles this season, including the UK Championship and the Masters, in the process earning £1.2m in prize money - more in a single campaign than any player in history.

He has also defeated Page in both their previous meetings, although the Welshman is regarded as one of the sport's most exciting prospects and recently advanced to the semi-finals of the World Open.

The 22-year-old will go into the contest after sealing a final-frame victory in qualifying over world number 22 Noppon Saengkham with a superb break of 107.

Analysis - Page will not be 'intimidated'

Mark Allen, 2018 Masters & 2022 UK champion

I've been here before and drawn the lowest-ranked qualifiers, but last time I lost. Robbie is a very good player - he scores heavily and gets on with it. I am looking forward to it.

Ronnie against Jackson could be really interesting. Jackson does not seem to be scared of anyone. He will not be intimidated by the atmosphere, although Ronnie is trying to create a bit of history for himself.

Ding versus Jack Lisowski is another huge match. Jack would have been the player that all the seeds wanted to avoid given how talented he is and how he performs on the big occasion.

Hossein is not scared to ruffle a few feathers, so it will be interesting to see how he treats the build-up playing one of the form players of the year in Judd. Judd has won five tournaments this year and will be full of confidence.

First-round draw

Luca Brecel v David Gilbert

Robert Milkins v Pang Junxu

Ali Carter v Stephen Maguire

Shaun Murphy v Lyu Haotian

Mark Selby v Joe O'Connor

Kyren Wilson v Dominic Dale

John Higgins v Jamie Jones

Mark Allen v Robbie Williams

Judd Trump v Hossein Vafaei

Tom Ford v Ricky Walden

Zhang Anda v Jak Jones

Mark Williams v Si Jiahui

Ding Junhui v Jack Lisowski

Gary Wilson v Stuart Bingham

Barry Hawkins v Ryan Day

Ronnie O'Sullivan v Jackson Page