WORLD SNOOKER CHAMPIONSHIP HANDS RONNIE O'SULLIVAN CLASH WITH BITTER RIVAL

The draw for the 2025 World Snooker Championship has been made as the top 16 discover which qualifier they will meet in round one at the Crucible.

The gruelling qualifying stage came to an end on Wednesday night at the English Institute of Sport, which is not far from the Crucible in Sheffield, but feels a million miles away.

The qualifiers will mostly go in as underdogs against elite players, but come in with victories under their belts and some confidence in their game.

They will also be buoyed by the performance of Jak Jones last year, who came through qualifying and made it all the way to the final, beating Judd Trump on his way.

Kyren Wilson beat Jones in that Crucible final 12 months ago and he gets his title defence underway on Saturday morning in the tournament’s opening session.

The Warrior will also be the first player to complete his first round game, with his second session on Saturday evening.

Seven-time champion Ronnie O’Sullivan is expected to play, with his campaign beginning on Tuesday afternoon against Ali Carter, while world number one Judd Trump plays his first session on Tuesday evening.

Four-time champion Mark Selby was in studio with the BBC during the draw and spoke out on the blockbuster O’Sullivan vs Carter tie.

‘I don’t think neither of them will be happy with that draw,’ he said. ‘It’s great that Ronnie is in the competition, we’ve not seen him since January, I wanted him to play and it seems like he is playing, which is fantastic for the game.

‘Carter’s probably one of the toughest qualifiers to get drawn against. He’s played Ronnie in the World final, played in the Masters final, so that’s a horrible draw.’

There are three debutants in the draw and all have been handed very tough tests.

Lei Peifan takes on defending champion Wilson, Daniel Wells faces former champ Shaun Murphy and Zak Surety plays Chinese superstar Ding Junhui.

Last year’s runner-up, Jones, has a tricky test in one of the stars of qualifying Zhao Xintong, who is back from a ban from the sport and looking in fine form.

Judgement Day results

Tuesday April 15

Gary Wilson 9-10 Daniel Wells

Zhou Yuelong 10-5 Yuan Sijun

Ricky Walden 3-10 Zak Surety

Ross Muir 4-10 Ben Woollaston

Elliot Slessor 8-10 Zhao Xintong

Ryan Day 10-5 Sunny Akani

Martin O’Donnell 2-10 Chris Wakelin

David Gilbert 10-9 Aaron Hill

Wednesday April 16

Fan Zhengyi 10-3 Michael Holt

Hossein Vafaei 10-4 Wang Yuchen

Ali Carter 10-5 He Guoqiang

Pang Junxu 10-6 Jamie Jones

Lei Peifan 10-9 Gao Yang

Joe O’Connor 10-7 Jackson Page

Wu Yize 10-9 Matthew Stevens

Matt Selt 10-9 Jimmy Robertson

2025-04-17T08:19:00Z