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By Simon Kendal-Williams
Mark Williams begins his quest for a hat-trick of world snooker titles this weekend, alongside three fellow Welshmen also aiming for Crucible glory at the World Championship.
A resurgent Williams, champion in 2000 and 2003, was the only Welshman to qualify for the Sheffield showpiece by right, having risen to seventh in the world rankings.
The 43-year-old from Cwm faces England’s Jimmy Robertson, conqueror of Neath’s Michael White in the final qualifying round.
Former Masters and UK champion Matthew Stevens is also enjoying a welcome return to form.
The Carmarthen cueman sealed his first visit to the World Championship in three years with a convincing win over Ken Doherty, and takes on world number nine Kyren Wilson.
Ryan Day has the chance to end his most successful season to date in style.
Having taken 18 years to land his first ranking title, Day duly added a second, but was narrowly pipped to the all-important 16th-seed spot during the final event of the season.
However, the Pontycymmer potter saw off 2002 world champion Peter Ebdon in final qualifying to set up a clash with rising star Anthony McGill.
Completing the quartet is Neath’s Jamie Jones, who booked a welcome return to snooker’s spiritual home in devastating fashion.
The 30-year-old upset the formbook with a stunning 10-0 whitewash of world number 19 Liang Wenbo.
His reward is a tie with 2005 champion and world number 8 Shaun Murphy.
Elsewhere, reigning champion Mark Selby faces world number 22 Joe Perry in the event’s curtain-raiser, while Ronnie O’Sullivan starts his bid for a sixth world crown against in-form Stephen Maguire.
The Betfred World Championship begins on Saturday at 10am, concluding on Monday May 7.
Full draw
Mark Selby v Joe Perry
Mark Allen v Liam Highfield
Kyren Wilson v Matthew Stevens
Shaun Murphy v Jamie Jones
John Higgins v Thepchaiya Un-Nooh
Stuart Bingham v Jack Lisowski
Luca Brecel v Ricky Walden
Judd Trump v Chris Wakelin
Ding Junhui v Xiao Guodong
Anthony McGill v Ryan Day
Marco Fu v Lyu Haotian
Barry Hawkins v Stuart Carrington
Mark Williams v Jimmy Robertson
Neil Robertson v Robert Milkins
Ali Carter v Graeme Dott
Ronnie O’Sullivan v Stephen Maguire
