MARCUS CAMPBELL, from Dumbarton, was one of the last players to qualify for the Betfair.com World Championship which starts at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield on Saturday but he received a plum draw yesterday when he was paired with Ronnie O'Sullivan, who is returning to competition to defend his title after enjoying a sabbatical for the past season.
Campbell will be one of five Scots contesting the annual 17-day marathon – he and Alan McManus emerged from the qualifying rounds to join John Higgins, Stephen Maguire and Graeme Dott – and O'Sullivan, a four-time world champion, knows the pressure will be on him to perform against the qualifier, having gone almost a year without playing.
"Marcus is a tough player," said O'Sullivan. "I played him in Beijing last season [at the China Open] and I was 4-2 down to him, but I managed to scrape over the line and win 5-4. He's a great match player; most players who come from Scotland are good match players. I suppose that's just the way they're built.
"There are no easy draws. He [Campbell] has been grinding away all season so he's obviously coming in with a lot of snooker behind him."
O'Sullivan isn't worried about being back in the goldfish bowl with all eyes on him after his long-awaited return. "It's like my own reality TV show," added O'Sullivan. "It could be car crash; it could be good. You just don't know. I'm not one for Big Brother – I haven't got the balls for it – but this is as near as it gets.
"It's exciting for me and everybody looking in. There's no hiding place, but I should be a match for anyone. It's all about going along with the ride. It's an adventure."
O'Sullivan and Campbell contest their best-of-19-frames first-round tie to a finish on the opening day of the £1.1m tournament at the world-famous venue.
Higgins, the four-time world champion from Wishaw, opens his Crucible challenge against Mark Davis, the Sussex man who beat him in the second round of the UK Championship this season.
Maguire, the Glaswegian who recorded his first ranking tournament victory in years in the Welsh Open, faces the Thai qualifier Dechawat Poonjaeng in his opening match, while Larkhall's Dott takes on Peter Ebdon in a repeat of the 2006 world final which he won.McManus, who qualified for the Crucible for the first time in seven years, opens against the leading Chinese player Ding Junhui.
betfair.com World Championship. Rd 1 draw (all players English unless stated)
Ronnie O'Sullivan v Marcus Campbell (Sco), Ali Carter v Ben Woollaston,
Stuart Bingham v Sam Baird, John Higgins (Sco) v Mark Davis,
Shaun Murphy v Martin Gould, Graeme Dott (Sco) v Peter Ebdon,
Matthew Stevens (Wal) v Marco Fu (HK), Judd Trump v Dominic Dale (Wal),
Neil Robertson (Aus) v Robert Milkins, Ricky Walden v Michael Holt,
Mark Williams (Wal) v Michael White, Stephen Maguire (Sco) v Dechawat Poomjaeng (Tha),
Mark Allen (NIrl) v Mark King, Ding Junhui (Chn) v Alan McManus (Sco),
Barry Hawkins v Jack Lisowski, Mark Selby v Matthew Selt
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