DING Junhui will begin the defence of his Masters title with a mouthwatering encounter against Ronnie O’Sullivan.

The 24-year-old Chinese sensation snooker’s most prestigious invitation title for the first time last season by beating Marco Fu in the final. He has been handed a tough opening match in 2012 against four-times Masters winner and crowd favourite O’Sullivan.

The encounter is the opening match of the tournament on Sunday January 15 at 1.30pm, and it will be a repeat of the 2007 final, which O’Sullivan won 10-3. The event, which will be televised by the BBC and Eurosport, will be played at a new venue, London’a Alexandra Palace, which has successfully hosted the PDC World Darts Championship in recent years.

There are several other outstanding ties in the first round. World Champion John Higgins is up against 2000 Masters king Matthew Stevens, while 2010 world champion Neil Robertson faces Mark Allen.

First round draw:
Ding Junhui v Ronnie O’Sullivan
Judd Trump v Stuart Bingham
Neil Robertson v Mark Allen
Mark Williams v Stephen Maguire
Mark Selby v Stephen Lee
Shaun Murphy v Martin Gould
Ali Carter v Graeme Dott
John Higgins v Matthew Stevens