Thailand's Noppon Saengkham will face 12th seed Jack Lisowski of England in the first round of the World Championship, which begins today at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield.
The Thai, better known in his country as 'Moo Paknam', earned a spot in the main draw after defeating China's Zhang Anda 10-9. It will be Noppon's fourth appearance at the Crucible, having played in the championship in 2017, 2020 and 2022.
World No.32 Noppon and Lisowski are scheduled to begin their battle on Tuesday.
Defending champion and top seed Ronnie O'Sullivan starts his quest for a record eighth Crucible crown against Chinese debutant Pang Junxu today.
O'Sullivan, 47, beat fellow Englishman Judd Trump last year to equal Stephen Hendry's tally of seven world titles.
Trump, winner of the World Championship in 2019, will start his campaign with a mouth watering encounter against 2020 Crucible semi-finalist Anthony McGill. The winner will meet Noppon or Lisowski.
Second seed and four-time world champion Mark Selby faces a tricky first round clash with 2019 Indian Open champion Matthew Selt.
Mark Allen, one of the hottest players of the season, and in-form Shaun Murphy have intriguing first-round clashes against Chinese debutants.
Allen has been pitted against Fan Zhengyi, who defeated Stephen Maguire to reach the first round, while Murphy plays Si Jiahui.
China's Ding Junhui is up against Iran's world No. 23 Hossein Vafaei.
The tournament ends on May 1. agencies
