Mark Williams, the 2000 winner, and John Parrott, champion nine years earlier, will meet in the first round of the Embassy World Championship which begins at Sheffield's Crucible Theatre on April 20. The pair are two of the six names in the draw that are already inscribed on the 75-year-old trophy.

Williams has won both the China Open and Thailand Masters this month while Parrott is appearing in the event for a 19th consecutive year thanks only to a last-gasp 10-9 win over Pakistan's Shokat Ali in the final qualifying round.

Whereas Williams is in his prime, Parrott is not sufficiently past his to be discounted. The 37-year-old Liverpudlian's 14 years in the top 16 ended last year but he is in contention to regain this status with performances at the Regal Scottish Open and at the Crucible still to be taken into account.

Stephen Hendry, seven times champion, will be challenged first by the 19-year-old Shaun Murphy, whose ranking of 169 does not convey his potential.

Indeed, Murphy qualified for the Benson and Hedges Masters 18 months ago and led Hendry 4-1 before losing 6-4. After beating the world No17, Marco Fu, in the final qualifying round, Murphy said: "My father and I have been preparing for this since I was nine."

Hours after he was drawn against Hendry, though, Murphy made a disappointing exit from the Regal Scottish Open qualifiers at Burton-on-Trent. He lost 5-3 to Grimsby's Shaun Storey in the first qualifying round.

Ken Doherty, the 1997 champion, plays Stuart Bingham, who sensationally ousted Hendry on the opening day two years ago but has done little since; John Higgins, winner in 1998 and of the Irish Masters last week, plays James Wattana, who is only a shadow of the world No3 he used to be.

Ronnie O'Sullivan's only foreseeable problem in opening his title defence against Scotland's Drew Henry is his own temperament.

Of those who have never won the title, there is a clash between two of the most colourful, Paul Hunter and Quinten Hann. Hunter has won the last two Benson and Hedges Masters; Hann is on the verge of becoming the first Australian since Eddie Charlton almost 20 years ago to earn a top-16 ranking.

First round draw:
Ronnie O'Sullivan v Drew Henry
Fergal O'Brien v Robert Milkins
Stephen Lee v Chris Small
Paul Hunter v Quinten Hann
Stephen Hendry v Shaun Murphy
Alan McManus v Anthony Davies
Mark King v David Gray
Ken Doherty v Stuart Bingham
John Higgins v James Wattana
Graeme Dott v Robin Hull
Matthew Stevens v Mike Dunn
Jimmy White v Dominic Dale
Peter Ebdon v Michael Judge
Joe Swail v Joe Perry
Dave Harold v Anthony Hamilton
Mark Williams v John Parrott.

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