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
Last Updated: 16/04/26 9:54am
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.
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.
The Champions
Since 1977 there have been 24 different champions, most recently China’s Zhao Xintong who lifted the trophy in 2025, becoming the first champion from Asia. Stephen Hendry and Ronnie O’Sullivan share the record of seven crowns apiece.
1977 John Spencer bt Cliff Thorburn 25-21
1978 Ray Reardon bt Perrie Mans 25-18
1979 Terry Griffiths bt Dennis Taylor 24-16
1980 Cliff Thorburn bt Alex Higgins 18-16
1981 Steve Davis bt Doug Mountjoy 18-12
1982 Alex Higgins bt Ray Reardon 18-15
1983 Steve Davis bt Cliff Thorburn 18-6
1984 Steve Davis bt Jimmy White 18-16
1985 Dennis Taylor bt Steve Davis 18-17
1986 Joe Johnson bt Steve Davis 18-12
1987 Steve Davis bt Joe Johnson 18-14
1988 Steve Davis bt Terry Griffiths 18-11
1989 Steve Davis bt John Parrott 18-3
1990 Stephen Hendry bt Jimmy White 18-12
1991 John Parrott bt Jimmy White 18-11
1992 Stephen Hendry bt Jimmy White 18-14
1993 Stephen Hendry bt Jimmy White 18-5
1994 Stephen Hendry bt Jimmy White 18-17
1995 Stephen Hendry bt Nigel Bond 18-9
1996 Stephen Hendry bt Peter Ebdon 18-12
1997 Ken Doherty bt Stephen Hendry 18-12
1998 John Higgins bt Ken Doherty 18-12
1999 Stephen Hendry bt Mark Williams 18-11
2000 Mark Williams bt Matthew Stevens 18-16
2001 Ronnie O’Sullivan bt John Higgins 18-14
2002 Peter Ebdon bt Stephen Hendry 18- 17
2003 Mark Williams bt Ken Doherty 18-16
2004 Ronnie O’Sullivan bt Graeme Dott 18-8
2005 Shaun Murphy bt Matthew Stevens 18-16
2006 Graeme Dott bt Peter Ebdon 18-14
2007 John Higgins bt Mark Selby 18-13
2008 Ronnie O’Sullivan bt Ali Carter 18-8
2009 John Higgins bt Shaun Murphy 18-9
2010 Neil Robertson bt Graeme Dott 18-13
2011 John Higgins bt Judd Trump 18-15
2012 Ronnie O’Sullivan bt Ali Carter 18-11
2013 Ronnie O’Sullivan bt Barry Hawkins 18-12
2014 Mark Selby bt Ronnie O’Sullivan 18-14
2015 Stuart Bingham bt Shaun Murphy 18-15
2016 Mark Selby bt Ding Junhui 18-14
2017 Mark Selby bt John Higgins 18-15
2018 Mark Williams bt John Higgins 18-16
2019 Judd Trump bt John Higgins 18-9
2020 Ronnie O‘Sullivan bt Kyren Wilson 18-8
2021 Mark Selby bt Shaun Murphy 18-15
2022 Ronnie O’Sullivan bt Judd Trump 18-13
2023 Luca Brecel bt Mark Selby 18-15
2024 Kyren Wilson bt Jak Jones 18-14
2025 Zhao Xintong bt Mark Williams 18-12
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)
Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: skynews.com
