Higgins Begins World Title Defence Against Stevens

John Higgins opens the defence of his world title at the Crucible Theater, Sheffield, on April 19 against Matthew Stevens, who has reached two finals there but has been struggling for form. Four Chinese are in the 32-man draw including the 17-year-old Liu Chuang, a 10-9 winner over Dominic Dale in his final qualifying round. Chuang, who stands 95th and last in the provisional rankings, will need to beat the former world champion Ronnie O'Sullivan at Sheffield to be sure of avoiding relegation from the world ranking circuit. Another Chinese Crucible debutant, Liang Wen Bo, a former world Under-21 champion, will meet Ken Doherty while Marco Fu, who was the winner of October's grand prix in Aberdeen and is enjoying the best season of his career, will face Ding Junhui, China's main hope for the title.