World Snooker Championship 2026: Ronnie O'Sullivan drawn against China's He Guoqiang at The Crucible
Ronnie O'Sullivan bids for a record-breaking eighth world title at the 50th World Championship in Sheffield; Zhao Xintong returns as defending champion at the Crucible, where he faces England's Liam Highfield in the opening round
Thursday 16 April 2026 13:44, UK
Ronnie O'Sullivan has been drawn to face Chinese debutant He Guoqiang as he attempts to win a record eighth World Snooker Championship title at The Crucible.
China's 47th-ranked He defeated Jack Lisowski in qualifying and will begin his maiden campaign against seven-time champion O'Sullivan on Tuesday afternoon.
The 25-year-old has beaten O'Sullivan in two of their previous three meetings and represents one of 11 Chinese players in the tournament.
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That includes defending champion Zhao Xintong, who faces Liam Highfield in the opening match on Saturday a year on from becoming China's first world champion.
Four-time champion John Higgins faces an opening-round clash with two-time runner-up Ali Carter and would meet O'Sullivan in the second round should both advance.
Another four-time winner in Mark Selby takes on 2024 finalist Jak Jones, Judd Trump meets Gary Wilson and three-time champion Mark Williams comes up against Antoni Kowalski, who makes history as the first Polish player to qualify for the Crucible.
A marquee debut awaits for 19-year-old qualifier Stan Moody when he makes his Crucible bow against 2024 champion Kyren Wilson.
The tournament gets under way this Sunday before the final takes place on Sunday May 3 and concludes the following day.
Since 32 players were first introduced in the first round in 1982, there has never been a time when all 16 top seeds have reached even the second round.
Zhao will try and overcome the 'Crucible Curse' and become the first maiden winner to successfully defend the trophy. Since 1980, 21 players have tried and failed.
O'Sullivan, who will be making a record 34th straight appearance at the iconic venue, was the last first-time champion to make it as far as the semi-finals when he lost 17-13 to Hendry back in 2002.
Full first-round draw (Best of 19 frames):
- Zhao Xintong (China) (1) vs Liam Highfield (England)
- Ding Junhui (China) (16) vs David Gilbert (England)
- Xiao Guodong (China) (9) vs Zhou Yuelong (China)
- Shaun Murphy (England) (8) vs Fan Zhengyi (China)
- John Higgins (Scotland) (5) vs Ali Carter (England)
- Ronnie O'Sullivan (England) (12) vs He Guoqiang (China)
- Chris Wakelin (England) (13) vs Liam Pullen (England)
- Neil Robertson (Australia) (4) vs Pang Junxu (China)
- Kyren Wilson (England) (3) vs Stan Moody (England)
- Mark Allen (Northern Ireland) (14) vs Zhang Anda (China)
- Barry Hawkins (England) (11) vs Matthew Stevens (Wales)
- Mark Williams (Wales) (6) vs Antoni Kowalski (Poland)
- Mark Selby (England) (7) vs Jak Jones (Wales)
- Wu Yize (China) (10) vs Lei Peifan (China)
- Si Jiahui (China) (15) vs Hossein Vafaei (Iran)
- Judd Trump (England) (2) vs Gary Wilson (England)
