Champ says he'd be 'flabbergasted' if Chinese star doesn't win a snooker title, Agence France-Presse reports.

Reigning world champion John Higgins believes it's just a matter of time before China's Ding Junhui wins snooker's most important tournament.

Higgins, who began the defense of his world title against Ding's compatriot Liang Wenbo at Sheffield's Crucible Theater on Saturday, has long been an admirer of Asia's most successful player.

While most of the pre-tournament attention has been on whether world No 1 Mark Selby will win a maiden world title to set alongside his ranking or fellow Englishman Judd Trump will go one better, after losing in last year's final, Higgins said Ding's chances also deserved serious consideration.

The 25-year-old beat Higgins to win the second of his two UK Championships - behind only the World Championship in terms of prestige - in 2009 and last year won the Masters, the sport's other major event.

"You look at Ding Junhui. I'd be flabbergasted if he never wins a world title, because he's that good," Higgins said.

Thanks mainly to the exploits of Ding, snooker has surged in popularity in China and the country now hosts three major professional tournaments.

Ding put a previously poor Crucible record behind him to reach the semifinals last year, beating Selby in the quarters before leading Trump 15-14 only to lose 17-14.

"I felt a bit nervous when it was 14-14," Ding said later.

"This is my first time in the semifinal and I now have more experience for next year," added Ding.

Neil Robertson, the first Australian to win the world title when he triumphed in 2010, suffered a shock first-round loss to Trump last year but beat another former world champion in Shaun Murphy to win the Masters in January.

"You could make the case for Neil Robertson," said Higgins, bidding for a fifth world title.

Robertson faces another potential banana skin when he comes up against 1997 champion Ken Doherty.

But arguably the tie of the first round is a clash of between another two former world champions in Ronnie O'Sullivan and Peter Ebdon.

O'Sullivan, when in form, is a brilliantly fluent player whereas Ebdon is a methodical, tactical grinder.

The most celebrated Crucible meeting between the pair came in a 2005 quarterfinal, where O'Sullivan let slip a 10-6 lead as Ebdon, who won 13-11, slowed the game down to the despair of his fellow Englishman.

Meanwhile, at the other end of the spectrum, Belgian teenager Luca Brecel will become the youngest player to appear in the World Championship when he faces Scotland's Stephen Maguire on Sunday.

But having beaten four experienced players in qualifying, a confident Brecel, who will be 17 years and 43 days when he steps into the Crucible arena, said: "The bigger the occasion, the better I seem to handle it."

Last year's world title capped an incident-packed season for the 36-year-old Higgins that started with a suspension, his punishment for non-disclosure and giving the appearance he was prepared to break betting rules following a sting operation carried out by now defunct British tabloid the News of the World.

Higgins beat impressive rising star Trump (up against Dominic Dale in the first round) 18-15 in the final and immediately afterwards said his target was to equal Stephen Hendry's record of seven world titles.

But, having struggled in 2012, Higgins admitted: "I think to be brutally honest I was a little bit high on my success when I said that."