Stevens takes on Day in UK opener

Former UK champion Matthew Stevens takes on the in-form Ryan Day in an all-Welsh contest in the first round of the Maplin UK Championship in Telford.

Ronnie O'Sullivan begins the defence of his title against Rory McLeod when the tournament gets under way on Saturday.

World number four Mark Selby takes on two-time champion Mark Williams, who is striving to return to the top 16.

And six-time winner Steve Davis is drawn against the man who beat him in the 2005 final, China's Ding Junhui.

Stevens, whose sole ranking title was the 2003 UK Championship, has dropped to 33 in the provisional rankings this season, but shown signs of returning to form of late.

He beat Day, a runner-up at the Grand Prix in Glasgow in October, in the quarter-finals of the Bahrain Championship last month before going on to lose the final 9-7 to Australian Neil Robertson.

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O'Sullivan, the defending champion, is aiming for a fifth UK title, having won the tournament in 1993, 1997, 2001 and last year, when he thrashed Stephen Maguire 10-2 in the final.

Williams, the UK champion in 1999 and 2002, is also showing signs of his old form and will present a serious test for Selby in round one.

Two former world champions, Irishman Ken Doherty and Scot Graeme Dott, meet each other in Saturday's opening batch of matches.

Five-time champion Stephen Hendry also faces a tricky first-round opponent in Stephen Lee.

First round draw:

Ronnie O'Sullivan (Eng) v Rory McLeod (Eng)
Joe Perry (Eng) v Mark Davis (Eng)
Marco Fu (HK) v Barry Hawkins (Eng)
Ryan Day (Wal) v Matthew Stevens (Wal)
Ali Carter (Eng) v Ian McCulloch (Eng)
Peter Ebdon (Eng) v Andrew Higginson (Eng)
Graeme Dott (Sco) v Ken Doherty (Ire)
Mark Selby (Eng) v Mark Williams (Wal)
Shaun Murphy (Eng) v Martin Gould (Eng)
Mark Allen (NI) v Stuart Bingham (Eng)
Mark King (Eng) v Judd Trump (Eng)
Stephen Hendry (Sco) v Stephen Lee (Eng)
John Higgins (Sco) v Joe Swail (NI)
Ding Junhui (Chn) v Steve Davis (Eng)
Neil Robertson (Aus) v Michael Holt (Eng)
Stephen Maguire (Sco) v Jamie Burnett (Sco)

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