Chinese tests for Hendry and O'Sullivan

JOHN Higgins will begin the defence of his World Snooker Championship title against Barry Hawkins.

Higgins, who beat Shaun Murphy in last year's Crucible final, will get the tournament under way on 17 April in Sheffield. Hawkins will be making his fifth consecutive appearance at the World Championship.

The most tantalising ties from yesterday's draw involve two of the three Chinese players in the draw, with Liang Wenbo starting against three-time winner Ronnie O'Sullivan and 18-year-old Crucible debutant Zhang Anda playing seven-time champion Stephen Hendry. Their fellow Chinese player Ding Junhui plays England's Stuart Pettman.

Steve Davis – on his 30th appearance in Sheffield and 25 years after his defeat to Dennis Taylor in the most famous final ever played – will take on his fellow Romford pro Mark King, while Masters champion Mark Selby will face 1997 world champion Ken Doherty.

Murphy begins his challenge against Northern Ireland's Gerard Greene, and last year's losing semi-finalists Mark Allen and Neil Robertson will meet Tom Ford and Fergal O'Brien respectively.

Stephen Maguire takes on Stephen Lee, while Peter Ebdon faces Graeme Dott.