Full first round draw
Zhao Xintong (China, 1) v Liam Highfield (England)
Ding Junhui (China, 16) v David Gilbert (England)
Xiao Guodong (China, 9) v Zhou Yuelong (China)
Shaun Murphy (England, 8) v Fan Zhengyi (China)
John Higgins (Scotland, 5) v Ali Carter (England)
Ronnie O’Sullivan (England, 12) v He Guoqiang (China)
Chris Wakelin (England, 13) v Liam Pullen (England)
Neil Robertson (Australia, 4) v Pang Junxu (China)
Kyren Wilson (England, 3) v Stan Moody (England)
Mark Allen (Northern Ireland, 14) v Zhang Anda (China)
Barry Hawkins (England, 11) v Matthew Stevens (Wales)
Mark Williams (Wales, 6) v Antoni Kowalski (Poland)
Mark Selby (England, 7) v Jak Jones (Wales)
Wu Yize (China, 10) v Lei Peifan (China)
Si Jiahui (China, 15) v Hossein Vafaei (Iran)
Judd Trump (England, 2) v Gary Wilson (England)
Mid-session interval
The mid-session interval is here in both matches.
On table two, Mark Allen produced a 47 break to level up the game to 2-2 with Zhang Anda.
On table one, Zhang Xintong reclaimed his two-frame lead with a break of 124 to make the score 2-1 against Liam Highfield.
Liam Highfield on the board
Despite a nervy start to the game, Liam Highfield has won his first frame against reigning World Champions Zhao Xintong.
He did look set to clear up the table, but missed a simple green. But he was able to escape the snooker from Zhao.
A couple of shots later, he was left with a difficult green, which he made to set him up for the brown and pink to take the frame and make it 2-1.
Best of 19 frames
The first round of the World Championships sees players play to the best of 19 frames.
On table one, it currently stands at Zhao Xintong 2-0 Liam Highfield.
Table two, it stands at Mark Allen 1-1 Zhang Anda, with the latter recording the first century break of the tournament with a 129 break in the second frame.
Frames won
Zhao Xintong has claimed the second frame in his match, while Mark Allen has opened the scoring in his match against Zhang Anda. He takes the first frame 73-38 despite sticking in the white when attempting a snooker.
We’re well underway now.
Highfield ‘under pressure’
The first frame was a missed opportunity for Liam Highfield, according to Stephen Hendry.
“That should have been a fairly easy clearance for Liam to win the frame, but he didn’t do it. That puts him under some pressure now.”
He now trails in the second with the world champ in a good position to claim another.
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No mistake
Zhao Xintong gets his tournament up and running and claims the first frame in Sheffield.
(Image: Getty)
Virgo tribute
A touching moment ahead of today’s play as the Crucible unleashes a minute of applause for John Virgo, who sadly passed away earlier this year.
‘We had to referee ourselves’
Just months before Zhao Xintong claimed world championship glory, he had played Steven Hallworth at a snooker club in Vienna.
There was one person in the audience and they had to retrieve their own balls from the pockets and score without the help of a referee.
(Image: Getty)
Saturday’s schedule in full
10:00
Zhao Xintong (1) v Liam Highfield
Mark Allen (14) v Zhang Anda
14:30
Xiao Guodong (9) v Zhou Yuelong
Mark Williams (6) v Antoni Kowalski
19:00
Zhao Xintong (1) v Liam Highfield
Barry Hawkins (11) v Matthew Stevens
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Williams wants another title
Mark Williams has revealed he would ‘run down the M4 from London to Cardiff naked’ for a fourth world title. The Welshman isn’t putting too much pressure on being in the mix on the final day, however.
“I’m still fighting. I’m still trying and that’s all I can say,” he said. I try my best in every tournament and if you win, great, if you lose, that’s not the end of the world.
“I’ve been doing this since I was an eight-year-old kid. My father was going down the mines for 30 years, my grandfather for 50 years.
“I’m just travelling around the world playing the stupid game of snooker, getting paid well for it and enjoying it. You can’t put too much pressure on yourself.”
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Debutants
There are four debutants at this year’s tournament. Teenager star Stan Moody, Liam Pullen, Antoni Kowalski and He Guoqiang are taking centre stage for the first time.
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Former champions
All but one of the champions from the last 10 years in Sheffield will be fighting it out to taste glory again in the coming days. Lucas Brecel was unable to make it through qualifying.
Jak Jones dispatched the Belgian 10-5 earlier in the week.
2025: Zhao Xintong (China)
2024: Kyren Wilson (England)
2023: Luca Brecel (Belgium)
2022: Ronnie O’Sullivan (England)
2021: Mark Selby (England)
2020: Ronnie O’Sullivan (England)
2019: Judd Trump (England)
2018: Mark Williams (Wales)
2017: Mark Selby (England)
2016: Mark Selby (England)
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Prize money
Snooker’s most prestigious tournament will see the winner receive £500,000 and there is a prize fund of almost £2.4m available in Sheffield.
Winner: £500,000
Runner-up: £200,000
Semi-finalists: £100,000
Quarter-finalists: £50,000
Last 16: £30,000
Last 32: £20,000
Highest break (qualifying stage included): £15,000
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Who is competing?
The world’s top 16 qualified for the tournament automatically, with 16 more qualifiers earning their way earlier in the week
1 Zhao Xintong
2 Judd Trump
3 Kyren Wilson
4 Neil Robertson
5 John Higgins
6 Mark Williams
7 Mark Selby
8 Shaun Murphy
9 Xiao Guodong
10 Wu Yize
11 Barry Hawkins
12 Ronnie O’Sullivan
13 Chris Wakelin
14 Mark Allen
15 Si Jiahui
16 Ding Junhui
Liam Highfield
David Gilbert
Fan Zhengyi
Ali Carter
He Guoqiang
Liam Pullen
Pang Junxu
Stan Moody
Zhang Anda
Matthew Stevens
Antoni Kowalski
Jak Jones
Lei Peifan
Hossein Vafaei
Gary Wilson
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O’Sullivan and Trump slammed
Shaun Murphy has hit out at the Sheffield no-shows of Ronnie O’Sullivan and Judd Trump after they were absent from the tournament’s launch at the Crucible.
“ I think it might give those two a particular image problem. I think it might affect their image slightly.
“I’ve got no idea, but none of us are shocked by it. It would be more strange for us if they were here, which is saying something.
“I think it’s a real shame and they probably could both have done a little bit more to help promote the game over the years.”
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First round action
The first round matches begin at 10am as Mark Allen takes on Zhang Anda and Zhao Xintong faces Liam Highfield.
Xintong will hope to become the first World Championship winner to defend his title at the first time of asking.
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Good morning!
The World Snooker Championship is here! Thanks for joining us.
Play is due to get underway in around an hour.
(Image: Getty)