Mark Selby to face Jamie Jones in World Championship opener

Mark Selby has been handed a first-round encounter against Jamie Jones at the World Championship, which gets underway on Saturday.

The defending champion has endured a disappointing 2021-22 campaign, but the 38-year-old will be bidding to become a five-time winner at the Crucible.

Welshman Jones, who is one of 16 players to come through qualifying for the tournament, is a former quarter-finalist and reached the second round last year.

Elsewhere, second seed Ronnie O'Sullivan was drawn alongside David Gilbert, while in-form Neil Robertson will begin his campaign versus Ashley Hugill.

One of the ties of the round sees fourth seed Judd Trump square off against Hossein Vafaei, the 2022 Snooker Shoot Out champion who will become the first Iranian player to feature in the last 32 of this competition.

Draw in full

Mark Selby vs. Jamie Jones Yan Bingtao vs. Chris Wakelin Barry Hawkins vs. Jackson Page Mark Williams vs. Michael White Kyren Wilson vs. Ding Junhui Stuart Bingham vs. Lyu Haotain Anthony McGill vs. Liam Highfield Judd Trump vs. Hossein Vafaei Neil Robertson vs. Ashley Hugill Jack Lisowski vs. Matthew Stevens Luca Brecel vs. Noppon Saengkham John Higgins vs. Thepchaiya Un-Nooh Zhao Xintong vs. Jamie Clarke Shaun Murphy vs. Stephen Maguire Mark Allen vs. Scott Donaldson Ronnie O'Sullivan vs. David Gilbert