Ronnie O'Sullivan will play He Guoqiang in the first round of the World Snooker Championship while teenager Stan Moody faces Kyren Wilson.
O'Sullivan was paired with one of the few players in the sport who boast a winning head-to-head record against him but this will be a big step up for He, who came through qualifying at the third time of asking to earn his Crucible debut.
The winner of that tie will face either John Higgins or Ali Carter, raising the prospect of a mouthwatering second-round clash either between arch rivals or two of the greatest players in history.
Defending champion Zhao Xintong faces Liam Highfield, beaten in round one on his three previous appearances in the tournament, while Moody makes the first of surely many appearances against former world champion, Wilson.
Mark Selby, Judd Trump and Neil Robertson, also former winners, perhaps got the toughest draws with Jak Jones, Gary Wilson and Pang Junxu their respective opponents.
Matthew Stevens makes his long-awaited Crucible return against the popular Barry Hawkins while Poland's first World Championship qualifier, Antoni Kowalski, comes up against Mark Williams.
The tournament begins at 10am on Saturday.
Full World Championship draw
- (1) Zhao Xintong vs Liam Highfield
- (16) Ding Junhui vs David Gilbert
- (9) Xiao Guodong vs Zhou Yuelong
- (8) Shaun Murphy vs Fan Zhengyi
- (5) John Higgins vs Ali Carter
- (12) Ronnie O'Sullivan vs He Guoqiang
- (13) Chris Wakelin vs Liam Pullen
- (4) Neil Robertson vs Pang Junxu
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
- (3) Kyren Wilson vs Stan Moody
- (14) Mark Allen vs Zhang Anda
- (11) Barry Hawkins vs Matthew Stevens
- (6) Mark Williams vs Antoni Kowalski
- (7) Mark Selby vs Jak Jones
- (10) Wu Yize vs Lei Peifan
- (15) Si Jiahui vs Hossein Vafaei
- (2) Judd Trump vs Gary Wilson
When does Ronnie O'Sullivan play?
Fans of The Rocket will have to wait until Tuesday April 21 for his entrance, with the first session of his match scheduled for 14:30 BST.
Should he progress, O'Sullivan would be back on Saturday April 25 at 19:00.
Full match schedule
All first-round matches are best-of-19 frames, played over two sessions
Saturday April 18 - 10:00 BST
- (14) Mark Allen vs Zhang Anda
- (1) Zhao Xintong vs Liam Highfield
Saturday April 18 - 14:30 BST
- (9) Xiao Guodong vs Zhou Yuelong
- (6) Mark Williams vs Antoni Kowalski
Saturday April 18 - 19:00 BST
- (11) Barry Hawkins vs Matthew Stevens
Sunday April 19 - 10:00 BST
- (16) Ding Junhui vs David Gilbert
Sunday April 19 - 14:30 BST
- (5) John Higgins vs Ali Carter
Monday April 20 - 10:00 BST
- (3) Kyren Wilson vs Stan Moody
Monday April 20 - 14:30 BST
- (10) Wu Yize vs Lei Peifan
Monday April 20 - 19:00 BST
- (8) Shaun Murphy vs Fan Zhengyi
Tuesday April 21 - 10:00 BST
- (2) Judd Trump vs Gary Wilson
- (13) Chris Wakelin vs Liam Pullen
Tuesday April 21 - 14:30 BST
- (12) Ronnie O'Sullivan vs He Guoqiang
Wednesday April 22 - 10:00 BST
- (7) Mark Selby vs Jak Jones
Wednesday April 22 - 14:30 BST
- (15) Si Jiahui vs Hossein Vafaei
Wednesday April 22 - 19:00 BST
- (4) Neil Robertson vs Pang Junxu
Neal Foulds on Sporting Life
- Player profiles: All 16 seeds in the World Championship
- Neal Foulds assesses Zhao Xintong's Crucible chances
- Thepchaiya Un-Nooh downs record-breaker O'Sullivan
- Neal Foulds' tribute to John Virgo
- Neal Foulds' best players who didn't conquer the Crucible
Nick Metcalfe on Sporting Life
- Exclusive interview with Neil Robertson
- Longer matches 'heart and soul' of snooker
- Crucible and Worlds a match made in heaven
- Can Ronnie O'Sullivan really do it again?
- Barry Hawkins: One of snooker's unsung heroes
- Nick Metcalfe ahead of the Players Championship
- John Virgo: Farewell to a snooker legend
- Ronnie O'Sullivan miles off the pace
- Kyren Wilson imperious in Masters win
- Could this be the greatest season of all?