World Snooker Championships: Former world champions Neil Robertson and Stuart Bingham part of high-quality qualifying draw for The Crucible

The pair have dropped out of the world’s top 16 so were included in the draw for the Cazoo World Championship qualifiers, which run from April 8-17 at Sheffield’s English Institute of Sport.

Australian Robertson – the 2010 world champion – must win two matches to earn a coveted place back at the Crucible.

It’s arguably the strongest-ever qualifying field, with the likes of Jack Lisowski, Stephen Maguire, Si Jiahui and Anthony McGill all forced to compete at the EIS.

Nine Yorkshire players will set out dreaming of a Crucible spot.

Sheffield’s Adam Duffy will look to become the first player from the Steel City to compete at the famous theatre, but must win four best-of-19 matches, starting out against Thailand’s Mink Nutcharut. Victory for Duffy, 35, will see him play York’s Ashley Hugill, 29, in round two.

Yorkshire’s teenage duo Stan Moody and Liam Pullen – who competed in last year’s World Junior Championship final in Australia – also feature. Halifax’s Moody, 17, has been drawn against Mohamed Shehab, while York’s Pullen, 18, faces Anton Kazakov. If Pullen can win his opening match, he faces Leeds’ Sanderson Lam, 30, in the second round.

Father and son Peter and Oliver Lines – from Leeds – return for another crack at qualifying. Peter, 54, plays Mohamed Ibrahim in the first round, while son Oliver, 28, joins in the second round, when he meets either Louis Heathcote or Oliver Sykes.

Roitherham’s Ashley Carty, 28, tackles Liam Graham in the first round, while Leeds potter David Grace, 38, faces either Rory Thor or Hamza Ilyas when he enters at the second round stage.

Tickets, priced £12 per day, are available for the qualifying rounds. Session times are 10am, 2.30pm and 7pm for the first three rounds, then 11am and 5pm for Judgement Day.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​