World snooker champion John Higgins has been given a tough test to open his title defence after being paired with Matthew Stevens in the first round.

Higgins, who beat Mark Selby 18-13 in last year's final, will play the 2003 UK champion and two-time World Snooker Championship finalist in the pick of the ties in the opening stage of the two-week tournament.

"There are no easy draws but Matthew is one of the toughest I could have got," Higgins said after the draw was made.

"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."

Stevens has never lost in the first round at the Crucible, although it would be something of a shock if he was to maintain that record against the Scot.

In the rest of the draw, which was the first ever to be made live over the internet, last year's losing finalist Selby has been drawn against Mark King, who knocked six-time finalist Jimmy White out in the qualifying tournament.

Perennial bookies' favourite Ronnie O'Sullivan has been drawn against Crucible debutant Liu Chuang from China.

Liu's compatriot and another of the favourites for the title, Ding Junhui, will play Hong Kong's Marco Fu, while the third Chinese player to reach the main draw, Liang Wenbo, faces 1997 champion Ken Doherty.

Full draw for the first round of the World Snooker Championship:

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 tournament begins on April 19th, with the final concluding on May 5th at the Crucible Theatre, Sheffield.
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