Sawt Falasteen - Snooker great O'Sullivan to face Chinese debutant Guoqiang in World Championship opener

The 25-year-old beat world number 18 Jack Lisowski in qualifying for the showpiece event at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield, northern England, and has defeated O'Sullivan in two of their three previous career meetings.

O'Sullivan, a 50-year-old Englishman, is looking to take sole possession of a modern-day record of seven world titles he currently shares with the retired Stephen Hendry of Scotland.

Guoqiang is one of a record 11 Chinese players in the tournament, a sign of how the country has become a force in snooker, a sport traditionally dominated by players from Britain and Ireland.

The China contingent includes reigning world champion Zhao Xintong, who will face Liam Highfield in the opening match on Saturday.

Two of the first-round ties are all-Chinese encounters, with Xiao Guodong taking on Zhou Yuelong and Wu Yize playing Lei Peifan.

Four-time world champion John Higgins faces two-time runner-up Ali Carter, with the winner potentially taking on O'Sullivan in the second round.

Mark Selby, another four-time world champion, starts against shock 2024 finalist Jak Jones.

Antoni Kowalski, the first Polish player to qualify for the Crucible, is up against three-time champion Mark Williams.

The tournament starts on Saturday, with Zhao's match against Highfield, while Northern Ireland's Mark Allen faces China's Zhang Anda on the other table.

England's Joe Davis won fifteen consecutive world titles between 1927 and 1946, but many of those successes came in challenge matches.

The record in the modern era is usually dated from the reintroduction of a knock-out tournament in 1969.

M.AbuKhalil--SF-PST