Neil Robertson knocked out of world snooker titles Neil Robertson looks on during his first round exit from the world snooker championship Source: Getty Images AUSTRALIA'S Neil Robertson had no excuses after suffering a shock early exit from snooker's world championship. Robertson, the world No2 who was heavily fancied to challenge for a second world title, crashed to a 10-8 defeat against Englishman Robert Milkins in the first round. He held a 5-4 lead on Wednesday and was expected to finish off the world No19 at the Crucible in Sheffield overnight but a lacklustre performance allowed Milkins to take advantage. Robertson had spoken pre-tournament of having his best ever season leading into a world championship, saying he felt better than before his 2010 triumph. But he graciously put the loss down to Milkins' performance, not his own. He handled the pressure a lot better than he perhaps would have done a few years ago. It's not really a gutting defeat for me. Milkins, 37, took a 46-minute opener to level at 5-5 before going ahead for the first time in the match. Robertson showed some form with an 86 break to draw level, but fluency was in short supply for the Melbourne-born star. Milkins left Robertson needing four snookers at the end of the 17th frame, at 8-8, and he got three of them. But Milkins clipped in a difficult long brown ball and added blue and pink to go one frame away from victory. Making his first appearance at the Crucible since 2005, Milkins showed few nerves as the winning line approached, but when he missed a blue on 51 they might have been jangling a touch. But Robertson could not capitalise on his chance to force a decider and Milkins clinched the biggest win of his career. "I'm absolutely chuffed to bits," Milkins said. Beating Neil over best-of-19, it doesn't come much better than that. I thought I did well to come out 5-4 behind last night and I probably didn't play so well today, but it put him under pressure, I think. It's great, I'm ecstatic.