World Championship 2017: Neil Robertson beats Noppon Saengkham in first round

Former champion Neil Robertson was made to wait before seeing off Thailand's Noppon Saengkham 10-4 in the first round of the World Championship.

The 2010 Crucible winner resumed 8-1 ahead, but Crucible debutant Saengkham finally relaxed to win three of the first four frames on Thursday.

A break of 76 saw Robertson, ranked ninth in the world, take the frame he needed to close out victory.

The 35-year-old Australian will face Marco Fu in the second round.

"I am very happy to get through. The damage was done yesterday when I took advantage of his nerves on his debut and punished his mistakes," Robertson said.

"Today he came out without any pressure on him and he knocked in a lot of great balls to nick a few back. But at 8-1 ahead you will have to not to turn up to get beat from there.

"I was a little bit slack on a couple of shots but regained my focus after the interval and was determined to finish it off."

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Also in action

In the afternoon's other match - the first second-round encounter of this year's tournament - world number 14 Kyren Wilson leads 2015 world champion Stuart Bingham 5-3.

Wilson, 25, raced into a 5-0 lead against his out-of-sorts opponent, but Bingham recovered to score two 50s in taking the three remaining frames of the session.

In the evening session, Ronnie O'Sullivan faces Shaun Murphy in a mouthwatering and potentially spiky last-16 match.

It is five-time champion O'Sullivan's first appearance since accusing snooker bosses of bullying, claims that 2005 champion Murphy said were "completely wrong".

Barry Hawkins resumes 7-2 up against Tom Ford in an all-English affair, the final first-round match to be played.