Robertson lays down marker for title with easy victory over Liang

Neil Robertson will take nothing for granted after underscoring his status as one of the favourites for the World Snooker Championship by easing past Liang Wenbo at the Crucible.

Two further centuries and a final flourish of 73 helped the 39-year-old convert a 6-3 overnight advantage into a routine 10-3 win over former UK Championship finalist Liang.

It is not the first time Robertson has been hailed as a champion-elect in the early stages of the Crucible, with Shaun Murphy famously calling to “get the engravers ready” after being thumped by the Australian in the 2019 second round.

Robertson said: “At some point you have to cope with becoming the favourite. I’ve always been able to deal with it and it is the really big guns who cope with it the best.

“Over the last seven or eight years, in five of those years I’ve blitzed my opponents and everyone is saying ‘his name’s on the trophy’.

“When you run into opponents who make it incredibly tough for you, the onus has to be on you to make it an aggressive game, just to play the matches on my terms and not be worried by the other guy profiting off any mistakes.”

Jamie Jones won five frames in succession to sink eighth seed Stephen Maguire 10-4 and move into the second round just three years after dropping off the tour in the wake of a one-year suspension. Jones recovered from a 3-0 deficit to fashion a 5-4 advantage overnight, and capitalised with three half-centuries to complete his win.

Former semi-finalist David Gilbert completed a 10-4 win over Chris Wakelin, with three centuries and five further 50-plus breaks.

Four-time champion John Higgins faces a battle to stay in the tournament as he trails China’s world No 53 Tian Pengfei 4-3 after a below-par opening session.