THE FIRST round draw for the 2015 World Championship was announced earlier this morning.

World snooker chairman Barry Hearn and six-times World Championship winner Steve Davis did the draw in front of thousands of viewers on World Snooker’s official YouTube website.

Defending champion Mark Selby will begin the defence of his title on Saturday morning when he faces Kurt Maflin.

Yesterday 16 qualifiers secured their places in the first round with four debutants making the trip to snooker’s biggest event this year. The debutants include Craig Steadman, Stuart Carrington, Anthony McGill and recent China Open semi-finalist Maflin.

THE FIRST ROUND DRAW

 

Mark SELBY vs Kurt MAFLIN

Stephen MAGUIRE vs Anthony McGILL

Joe PERRY vs Zhang ANDA

Shaun MURPHY vs Robin HULL

Barry HAWKINS vs Matthew SELT

Mark ALLEN vs Ryan DAY

Ali CARTER vs Alan McMANUS

Neil ROBERTSON vs Jamie JONES

Ding JUNHUI vs Mark DAVIS

John HIGGINS vs Robert MILKINS

Marco FU vs Jimmy ROBERTSON

Judd TRUMP vs Stuart CARRINGTON

Ricky WALDEN vs Graeme DOTT

Stuart BINGHAM vs Robbie WILLIAMS

Mark WILLIAMS vs Matthew STEVENS

Ronnie O’SULLIVAN vs Craig STEADMAN