Neil is latest ex-champ to get World KO

AUSTRALIA’S Neil Robertson became the fifth former champion to crash out in the opening round of the Betfred World Championship as he lost to Robert Milkins in Sheffield.

Robertson threatened to stage a comeback when he won the first two frames of the second session at the Crucible Theatre to reduce his deficit to 6-5.

But the off-form left-hander scored just 36 points in the next four frames as Milkins made breaks of 69, 55 and 54 to secure a 10-5 win and book his place in the last 16.

Milkins, who also beat Robertson in the first round in 2013, said: “This is the biggest out of the two.

“I can’t remember much about five years ago. I don’t think I played brilliant and I think Neil was a bit drained at that time. This time I put in a good performance, especially in the first session.

“There was times out there today in the second session I didn’t know what I was doing and I was lucky that I just stepped up the pace a bit. I felt I was playing a bit slow.

“Neil won the first two (frames) and was unlucky in the next when he had a massive kick and it sort of changed after that.”

Robertson joins former champions Mark Selby, Stuart Bingham, Graeme Dott and Shaun Murphy in making an early exit, a fate avoided earlier in the day by two-time winner Mark Williams, who produced a total clearance of 140 on his way to a 10-5 win over Jimmy Robertson.