World Ranking: 10
Provisional Ranking: 14
Date Of Birth: 21/01/71
World Championship best: Semi-finals – 1992, 1993

It is now 12 years since Alan 'Angles' McManus last reached the semi-finals here.

He is a player who loves a battle and one who is prepared to grind down players in a war of attrition.

McManus continues to hold a place in the world's top 16 and this year will be the Scot's 15th consecutive appearance at The Crucible.

He arrives this time in good nick - he recently made the semi-finals of the China Open where Mark Williams and John Higgins were among his victims.

If he can reproduce such form over the longer format that Sheffield demands, McManus may just show that his best days are not all behind him.

With a kind draw, that may not be as unlikely as it first appears.