As a former world champion and top-ten player, Neil Robertson is spared the rigours of qualifying for major tournaments.

But the Cambridge-based potter wishes he was in the thick of the action after being dumped out of the Betfred World Championship first round by Robert Milkins.

Robertson became the sixth seed and fifth former world champion to lose in the first round, with the sharpness shown by qualifiers a continuing theme of this tournament.

And 2010 champion Robertson insists it’s a clear advantage to come through qualifying, with Milkins benefiting from three wins under his belt before arriving at the Crucible Theatre.

“I would rather play three matches all day long, absolutely. Rob has come here with nothing to lose and has got £18,000 or something like that so that is decent for him,” he said.

“He has approached it the right way. I would much rather have played three matches coming in than being a seed that’s for sure.

“If you are not good enough to win your three matches anyway then you are not good enough to get here.”

Elsewhere, Mark Williams progressed to the second round with a 10-5 win against Jimmy Robertson.

Since he last ruled the Crucible Theatre in 2003, Williams has won just five ranking event titles but two of those have come this season – fuelling the belief that he could add to his successes in 2000 and 2003.

And the Welsh potter looked in total control against Robertson, where he turned a 7-2 overnight advantage into a routine win to book a second-round match with Milkins.

“I am coming here playing the best stuff I have played in many years, whether I can win it who knows,” he said.

“I definitely have as good a chance as anyone in the tournament.”

In other action, John Higgins breathed a sigh of relief after reaching the second round with a hard-fought win against Thailand’s Thepchaiya Un-Nooh last night.

It is 20 years since Higgins first won the title but he still looks a major threat and will play qualifier Jack Lisowski.

Higgins’ tag as one of the favourites is a far cry from recent years – where he’s openly admitted he thought his days at the top were done.

However, a run to the final last season coupled with a consistent campaign in 2017-18 has catapulted the 42-year-old back among the reckoning.

But he will know that if he wants to make a serious run in the next fortnight then he will need to improve after making some uncharacteristic mistakes in his 10-7 win.

“I was lucky to be 6-3 in front, it flattered me after the first session. He had me in all sorts of bother later in the day too but he missed a few and I kept getting ahead,” he said.

“I think it helped me that I was playing later on in the week because if I was playing him on Saturday or Sunday I would have been in trouble because he still would have been on a high from qualifying.

Watch the snooker World Championship LIVE on Eurosport and Eurosport Player with Colin Murray and analysis from Ronnie O’Sullivan, Jimmy White and Neal Foulds.