Ronnie O'Sullivan will face Crucible debutant He Guoqiang when he kicks off his quest to win a record eighth World Snooker Championship title on Tuesday.
The 25-year-old Chinese player beat world number 18 Jack Lisowski in qualifying and has beaten O’Sullivan in two of their three previous career meetings.
O’Sullivan is looking to eclipse Stephen Hendry, with whom he currently tops the standings on seven modern era Crucible crowns.
Guoqiang is one of a record 11 Chinese players in the tournament, including defending champion Zhao Xintong, who will face Liam Highfield in the opening match on Saturday.
O'Sullivan is commuting from Ireland for the tournament.
Northern Ireland's Mark Allen has been handed a very difficult draw against Zhang Anda, also on the opening morning.
Zhang made five centuries in his final qualifying match earlier this week in an outstanding performance.
Nineteen-year-old English qualifier Stan Moody faces a daunting Crucible debut against 2024 champion Kyren Wilson, while Liam Pullen will take on former quarter-finalist Chris Wakelin.
Four-time winner John Higgins faces two-time runner-up Ali Carter in a high-quality opener, with a potential second round meeting with O’Sullivan at stake.
Mark Selby starts against the shock 2024 finalist Jak Jones, and Judd Trump has a tough opener against 2019 semi-finalist Gary Wilson, who survived a qualifying epic against Xu Si.
Antoni Kowalski, the first Polish player to qualify for the Crucible and who saved his tour card in the process, starts against three-time champion Mark Williams.
The tournament starts on Saturday morning with Zhao’s match against Highfield, with Allen on the other table.
World Snooker Championship draw:
Si Jiahui vs Hossein Vafaei
Ronnie O'Sullivan vs He Guoqiang
Wu Yize vs Lei Peifan
Mark Selby vs Jak Jones
Mark Allen vs Zhang Anda
Ding Junhui vs David Gilbert
Mark Williams vs Antoni Kowalski
Zhao Xintong vs Liam Highfield
Judd Trump vs Gary Wilson
Chris Wakelin vs Liam Pullen
Kyren Wilson vs Stan Moody
Barry Hawkins vs Matthew Stevens
Shaun Murphy vs Fan Zhengyi
Xiao Gudong vs Zhou Yuelong
John Higgins vs Ali Carter
Neil Robertson vs Pang Junxu
