Here is the announcement by WST:

JOHNSTONE’S PAINT MASTERS DRAW – O’ SULLIVAN TO FACE HIGGINS

The draw for the 2025 Johnstone’s Paint Masters has been made, with defending champion Ronnie O’Sullivan headlining in a clash of the titans against John Higgins.

Other notable ties include a repeat of the current Victorian Plumbing UK Championship final between Judd Trump and Barry Hawkins, as well as a meeting between former Masters champions Mark Williams and Ding Junhui.

The top eight seeds were drawn at random against players seeded 9-16 to make up the first round of snooker’s biggest invitation event, which runs from January 12-19, 2025, at Alexandra Palace in London. The match schedule will be announced soon.

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The top eight seeds are placed into the draw as follows:

1 Ronnie O’Sullivan vs John Higgins

8 Shaun Murphy vs Gary Wilson

5 Mark Allen vs Si Jiahui

4 Mark Selby vs Ali Carter

3 Judd Trump vs Barry Hawkins

6 Mark Williams vs Ding Junhui

7 Luca Brecel vs Chris Wakelin

2 Kyren Wilson vs Zhang Anda

Right… NOT. Higgins is probably the worst first round draw Ronnie could get in this competition and I expect nothing but another first round exit. 😞 IF by some miracle he gets past Higgins, he has a good chance to reach the SFs. But Higgins has really been a bogey opponent for Ronnie over most of his career,