 Ebson beat Hendry 18-17 in last year's final |
Peter Ebdon will open the defence of his Embassy World Championship title against in-form Gerard Greene. Ebdon was pitted against the fast potting left-hander in the best-of-19 frames first round draw for the World Championship.
He has not reached a final since beating Stephen Hendry 18-17 at the Crucible last year and will need to be sharp to avoid being on the receiving end of an upset.
Greene is 42nd in the provisional world rankings and romped to a 10-3 victory over Anthony Hamilton in the final qualifying round.
LAST FIVE CHAMPIONS 2002: Peter Ebdon 2001: Ronnie O'Sullivan 2000: Mark Williams 1999: Stephen Hendry 1998: John Higgins |
Ronnie O'Sullivan, favourite to collect the record �260,000 first prize, is thrown in at the deep end against Hong Kong's Marco Fu. Double Masters champion Paul Hunter also faces a difficult task against Ali Carter, who is making his Crucible debut.
Provisional world number one Mark Williams, who is looking for a hat-trick of major titles after lifting the UK Championship and Benson and Hedges Masters trophies this season, kicks off his Crucible campaign against another debutant, Preston's Stuart Pettma.
John Higgins tackles Ian McCulloch, while Stephen Hendry, in search of his eighth Embassy crown, meets former world number five Gary Wilkinson.
Steve Davis, at 45 the oldest of the 32 competitors, returns to The Crucible after a three-year absence and plays Stephen Lee while John Parrott faces Australia's Quinten Hann. "The Whirlwind", Jimmy White, has been pitted against "Thai-phoon" James Wattana.
Embassy World Championships (April 19 - May 5)
First round draw Peter Ebdon (Eng) v Gerard Greene (NIrl)
Ronnie O'Sullivan (Eng) v Marco Fu (Hkg)
Mark Williams (Wal) v Stuart Pettman (Eng)
John Higgins (Sco) v Ian McCulloch (Eng)
Ken Doherty (Irl) v Shaun Murphy (Eng)
Stephen Hendry (Sco) v Gary Wilkinson (Eng)
Stephen Lee (Eng) v Steve Davis (Eng)
Matthew Stevens (Wal) v Chris Small (Sco)
Paul Hunter (Eng) v Ali Carter (Eng)
Jimmy White (Eng) v James Wattana (Tha)
Mark King (Eng) v Drew Henry (Sco)
Graeme Dott (Sco) v Rob Milkins (Eng)
Joe Perry (Eng) v Sean Storey (Eng)
Quinten Hann (Aus) v John Parrott (Eng)
Alan McManus (Sco) v Nigel Bond (Eng)
Joe Swail (NIrl) v Tony Drago (Mlt)
MMIX
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