Ronnie O’Sullivan will face old rival Ali Carter in a blockbuster first-round draw at the World Snooker Championship at the Crucible - if he decides to play. Seven-time champion O’Sullivan is seeded fifth at the tournament but has not played in since January after pulling out of the Masters earlier this year. Should the 49-year-old decide to play at the Crucible, he will take on a two-time World Championship finalist in Carter, who booked his place in the draw on Thursday. The first-round clash has the potential to be a grudge match, with O’Sullivan calling Carter “not a nice person” and a “nightmare” to play against following a heated Masters match last year. The World Snooker Championship gets underway on Saturday 19 April with the final played over two days starting on Sunday 4 May. First-round matches Judd Trump v Zhou Yuelong Shaun Murphy v Dan Wells Ronnie O'Sullivan v Ali Carter Ding Junhui v Zak Surety John Higgins v Joe O'Connor Mark Williams v Wu Yize Barry Hawkins v Hossein Vafaei Mark Selby v Ben Woollaston Kyren Wilson v Lei Peifan Luca Brecel v Ryan Day Si Jiahui v Dave Gilbert Neil Robertson v Chris Wakelin Mark Allen v Fan Zhengyi Jak Jones v Zhai Xintong Xiao Guodong v Matthew Selt Zhang Anda v Pang Junxu