Multiple-time ranking event winner Robert Milkins facing battle to avoid professional tour relegation

Milkins has been an ever-present on snooker’s top flight since 1995, but his unblemished three-decade record is under serious threat as he is provisionally ranked 74th on the end-of-season projections.

With the world’s top 64 following the 2026 World Championship guaranteed to keep their tour card, as it stands, Englishman Milkins would need to go to Q-School if he wanted to be part of next season’s professional player roster.

It was only just over a couple of years ago that Milkins was ranked 12th in the world - his joint-highest-ever position. This came after the most successful spell of his career.

Having been to six ranking event semi-finals in the past, Milkins made it to his maiden final at the 2022 Gibraltar Open. This run came completely out of the blue as he was out of form having won just three matches all season up to that tournament.

The underdog in the best-of-seven frames title match, Milkins held off Kyren Wilson to win 4-2, collect £50,000, and realise a dream of becoming a ranking event champion.

The best was yet to come, though, the following season. Having been a semi-finalist just several days before at the German Masters, Milkins eliminated Mark Selby and Mark Allen en route to reaching the 2023 Welsh Open final in Llandudno.

If the pressure of competing for one of professional snooker's longest-running titles wasn't enough, Milkins went into the final against Shaun Murphy knowing that if he won, he would also finish top of that season's European Series order of merit and collect an additional £150,000.

The difference between winning or losing that match to Milkins was £195,000, but having been 3-1 down after the first mid-session interval, he went on to win 9-7 to produce his finest moment in the sport.

It was a remarkable career turnaround for Milkins. Within the space of 12 months, he captured his first two ranking event titles, and by far the biggest paydays of a career that began in 1995.

These results subsequently pushed him back into the elite world's top 16 - a status he had not enjoyed for some time. It got him into invitational events the Shanghai Masters, the Masters, and the Champion of Champions.

But during the two most recently completed seasons, it has largely been a struggle for Milkins. Apart from making the final eight at the 2023 Championship League, he has not featured in a ranking event quarter-final.

Last season, Milkins reached the last 16 of just one ranking event, and that came at the Shoot Out that yielded a fairly modest £2,000 in prize money.

He also lost his opening matches at the Saudi Masters and the World Championship; whilst he collected the prize money, it didn't get added to his ranking tally.

So far, there hasn't been a turnaround in fortunes this season for the 49-year-old, either, having won three of his 11 matches to date.

In his latest outing earlier this week, Milkins was ousted 6-5 in International Championship qualifying by Wang Yuchen, although he does have trips to the upcoming Xi'an Grand Prix and Northern Ireland Open to look forward to.

The equation is a difficult one, but there is still time for Milkins who can take inspiration from his own performances in a similar situation a few years ago, and from recent British Open runner-up Anthony McGill who had also been flirting with potential relegation after a big drop in the rankings.

If the worst happened and Milkins was relegated at the end of this campaign, he can pretty much immediately get his professional status back through Q School. Several seasoned professionals have achieved this, although going into a gauntlet like that in poor form is far from ideal.

The Milkman’s next assignment is at the aforementioned Xi’an Grand Prix where he is likely to face reigning world champion Zhao Xintong in the round of 64.

Who knows, a high-profile victory against the current Crucible king could be exactly what Milkins needs to kick-start his career again.