HIGGINS TO FACE STEVENS AT CRUCIBLE

11 Mar 2008 14:50:00

John Higgins faces a tough match against Matthew Stevens when he begins the defence of his 888.com World Snooker Championship title on April 19.

The draw for the last 32 of snooker’s most prestigious tournament took place today at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield. For the first time ever, the draw was broadcast online to fans around the globe on www.888snooker.com. This website will also carry latest odds for the tournament.

Scotland’s Higgins, who beat Mark Selby 18-13 in last year’s final, was present to see his name come out of the bag against Stevens. The Welshman has never lost a first round match at the Crucible and has been a semi-finalist five times. He was runner-up to Mark Williams in 2000 and Shaun Murphy in 2005.

“There are no easy draws but Matthew is one of the toughest I could have got,” said two-times champ Higgins. “We’ve had some cracking matches over the years, I beat him 17-15 in the semi-finals in 2001, then the next year he thrashed me 13-7 in the quarters. I’ve got five or six weeks of solid practice now to get myself ready.”

China’s Liu Chuang shocked Dominic Dale 10-9 in yesterday’s qualifiers to become only the fourth 17-year-old to reach the Crucible. He was rewarded with a dream tie against Ronnie O’Sullivan.

“I’m very excited because Ronnie was my idol when I first started playing snooker at the age of ten,” said Liu, who lost 5-1 to O’Sullivan at last season’s Honghe Industrial China Open. “I like the way he plays but I will be nervous when I go into the arena with him.”

Liu’s compatriot Ding Junhui also received a tough draw as he will face Hong Kong’s Marco Fu. The third player from mainland China in the draw, Liang Wenbo, is up against former champion Ken Doherty.
 
Snooker legend Stephen Hendry, the seven-times Crucible king, will take on rising star Mark Allen. On his debut last year, Allen knocked out Doherty, and he also beat Hendry 9-4 in the Maplin UK Championship earlier this season.

Selby plays Mark King, who knocked Jimmy White out of the qualifiers, while 2002 champ Peter Ebdon faces gifted young potter Jamie Cope.

The full draw is:
John Higgins v Matthew Stevens
Ryan Day v Michael Judge
Ding Junhui v Marco Fu
Stephen Hendry v Mark Allen
Ronnie O’Sullivan v Liu Chuang
Mark Williams v Mark Davis
Stephen Lee v Joe Swail
Ken Doherty v Liang Wenbo
Shaun Murphy v Dave Harold
Ali Carter v Barry Hawkins
Mark Selby v Mark King
Peter Ebdon v Jamie Cope
Neil Robertson v Nigel Bond
Stephen Maguire v Anthony Hamilton
Steve Davis v Stuart Bingham
Graeme Dott v Joe Perry

The 888.com World Snooker Championship runs from April 19 to May 5 at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield.