London, April 17 Kyren Wilson will start his world champion title defending campaign with an opening round clash with China's Lei Pengfei as the draw of the 2025 World Snooker Championships was unveiled here on Thursday.
Wilson, 33, clinched the world champion title for the first time after beating qualifier Jak Jones 18-14 in the final one year ago.
Wilson will attempt to overcome the so-called "Crucible curse", by which no first-time champion has retained the title since the tournament moved to the Crucible Theatre in 1977.
The current world No. 2 will on Saturday play against Scottish Open winner Lei, who edged Chinese compatriot Gao Yang 10-0 in the last round of qualifiers, reports Xinhua.
Seven-time world champion Ronnie O'Sullivan is set to meet Ali Carter, and veteran John Higgins will face Joe O'Connor.
A record of 10 Chinese players have secured their places at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield this year. Ding Junhui, seeded No. 10, will face debutant Zak Surety while Zhao Xintong is going to challenge last year's finalist Jones in the first round.
The 2025 World Championships will be held from April 19 to May 5. The winner of the event will receive £500,000 from a total prize fund of £2,395,000. The runner-up will bag Runner-up: £200,000, while the semifinalists will get £100,000 each.
--IANS
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