China's Ding Junhui will play his first round match at the Masters against Englishman Ryan Day on January 15, World Snooker announced on Wednesday.
Ding, ranked fourth in the world, finally won his first match last year at the Masters after crashing out of the first round for five years in a row. He beat Kyren Wilson in the first round but lost to Joe Perry in the quarterfinals.
The Chinese former world No. 1, who won the title when the tournament was held at Wembley Arena in 2011, will meet the winner between John Higgins and Anthony McGill in the second round if he beats Day.
Ronnie O'Sullivan will begin the defence of his title against Marco Fu on January.
If O'Sullivan wins his opening match he'll face Luca Brecel or Mark Allen in the quarterfinals.
World champion Mark Selby has been drawn against two-time Masters king Mark Williams, and that will be the opening match of the tournament on Sunday January 14.
Judd Trump will take on Chinese ace Liang Wenbo while Higgins faces an all-Scottish clash with Masters debutant McGill.
