The 42-year-old Englishman has had one of the best seasons of his career, winning five ranking titles so far.

His meeting with Scotland’s Maguire is a repeat of their first-round clashes at the Crucible in 2004 and 2005, both of which were won by O’Sullivan.

O’Sullivan also beat Maguire in the semi-finals en route to winning the UK Championship and World Grand Prix earlier this season.

Three-time winner Mark Selby of England is scheduled to begin the defence of his title against fellow countryman Joe Perry tomorrow, while last year's beaten finalist John Higgins of Scotland, a four-time winner, has been drawn against Thailand's Thepchaiya Un-Nooh.

Other notable first-round ties include China's Ding Junhui against compatriot Xiao Guodong and Judd Trump against Championship debutant Chris Wakelin in an all-English encounter.

"The standard is absolutely incredible," World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association chairman Jason Ferguson was reported as saying by BBC Sport.

"It has been a long, hard season, there has been a lot of travelling involved but we are approaching the end now and someone will be crowned the world champion."

The random draw for the last 32 of snooker’s biggest tournament was made yesterday.

It was delayed by two hours due to technical issues at the venue.

The top 16 seeds were drawn against the 16 qualifiers.

The final is scheduled to take place on May 6 and 7.