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Snooker: Mark Selby to open World Championship title defence against Norway's Kurt Maflin

By Mercury_Sport  |  Posted: April 16, 2015

Mark Selby beat Ronnie O'Sullivan in last year's World Championship final

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Mark Selby will begin the defence of his World Championship title against Kurt Maflin.

The 'Jester from Leicester', who beat Ronnie O'Sullivan in last year's final to clinch his first world title, takes on the Norwegian No.1 in the opening match at the Crucible on Saturday (10am).

Selby goes into the weekend in fine form after his victory at the China Open, although no one has ever gone on to win the world title the year after lifting it for the first time.

Maflin, the world No.38, is making his Crucible debut after a qualifying campaign that included a 10-1 trouncing of six-time world champion Steve Davis.

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He beat David Grace in the first round of qualifying, brushing aside Davis in the second, before needed a final-frame decider to get the better of Fergal O'Brien in the final qualifier.

Leicester's Tom Ford lost to Matthew Selt in the final round of qualifying while Ben Woollaston and Joe O'Connor also failed to make it to this year's Crucible.


Full draw:

Shaun Murphy v Robin Hull

Mark Allen v Ryan Day

Joe Perry v Zhang Anda

Stephen Maguire v Anthony McGill

Judd Trump v Stuart Carrington

Ricky Walden v Graeme Dott

Stuart Bingham v Robbie Williams

Mark Selby v Kurt Maflin

Ding Junhui v Mark Davis

Mark Williams v Matthew Stevens

Barry Hawkins v Matthew Selt

Ali Carter v Alan McManus

John Higgins v Robert Milkins

Neil Robertson v Jamie Jones

Marco Fu v Jimmy Robertson

Ronnie O'Sullivan v Craig Steadman

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