Snooker World Championship Draw 2025: All the first round matches - including Ronnie O'Sullivan's first opponent

Kyren Wilson is the defending champion at this year's World Snooker Championship. | Getty Images

First held in 1927, it is the longest-running and most prestigious tournament in professional snooker, with a prize fund of £2,395,000, of which the winner will receive £500,000.

Last year saw Kyren Wilson defeat Jak Jones 18‍–‍14 in the final and Wilson will be back to defend his title.

He’s one of 32 players to make it through to the first round draw - made up of the top 16 players from the snooker ‘Race to the Crucible’ world rankings and another 16 players who won through the 128-strong qualification tournament.

The draw has now been made for the competition, taking place at Sheffield’s Crucible Theatre from April 19 to May 5.

Here’s who is playing who - and when they’ll be taking to the baize:

Saturday 19 April

First round

10am

Kyren Wilson (1) v Lei Peifan

Xiao Guodong (14) v Matthew Selt

2.30pm

Neil Robertson (9) v Chris Wakelin

Mark Williams (6) v Wu Yize

7pm

Kyren Wilson (1) v Lei Peifan

Barry Hawkins (11) v Hossein Vafaei

Sunday, April 20

10am

Jak Jones (16) v Zhao Xintong

Xiao Guodong (14) v Matthew Selt

2.30pm

Mark Allen (8) v Fan Zhengyi

Mark Williams (6) v Wu Yize

7pm

Neil Robertson (9) v Chris Wakelin

Barry Hawkins (11) v Hossein Vafaei

Monday, April 21

10am

John Higgins (3) v Joe O'Connor

Jak Jones (16) v Zhao Xintong

2.30pm

Ding Junhui (10) v Zak Surety

Mark Allen (8) v Fan Zhengyi

7pm

Si Jiahui (13) v David Gilbert

John Higgins (3) v Joe O'Connor

Tuesday, April 22

10am

Zhang Anda (12) v Pang Junxu

Shaun Murphy (15) v Daniel Wells

2.30pm

Ronnie O'Sullivan (5) v Ali Carter

Ding Junhui (10) v Zak Surety

7pm

Judd Trump (2) v Zhou Yuelong

Si Jiahui (13) v David Gilbert

The BBC will once again be broadcasting live coverage across BBC1, BBC2, the Red Button and the iPlayer. There will also be highlights programmes every evening to catch up on the day’s action.