Rob Milkins is bidding for World Seniors glory and then to return to the professional tour after losing his pro status for the first time since 1997.
The Milkman first turned pro in 1995 and, other than a brief hiatus two years later, has been on tour ever since and achieved his greatest successes in recent times.
He downed Kyren Wilson to win the Gibraltar Open in 2022 and then beat Shaun Murphy in the final of the Welsh Open in 2023, winning the £150,000 BetVictor Bonus in doing so.
It was only in April 2024 that Milkins was a top 16 seed at the Crucible and won his opening round game, but two years on, he lost to amateur player Patrick Whelan 10-3 in World Championship qualifying and dropped off tour, ranked number 72 in the world.
The 50-year-old is not hanging up his cue yet, saying it has been a torrid few months of personal problems that has taken his eye off the table, but he plans to come back stronger.
‘My head’s not been great for the last six months. Lots of trauma going on, it just all builds up, and I didn’t handle it very well,’ Milkins told Metro.
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‘My heart weren’t in it [against Whelan]. And I know it’s sad because it’s such a big game. I sort of panicked a bit even from 1-0, 2-0, 3-0, thinking, what the hell is going on here? He didn’t really miss much. His safety was really good. I give him a lot of credit. I thought he was very good.
‘But it’s just up to me to get out of the rut now and try and get back to where I should be. At least on the tour.’
Milkins is playing in the World Seniors Championship at the Crucible this week, beating Jimmy White in his opener on Thursday night, to face Igor Figueiredo next on Friday.
Then comes Q School in a bid tor return to tour, a notoriously pressurised, tense environment as players scrap for their careers.
‘I’ve entered Q School. Hopefully I’ll get back on,’ he said. ‘I think I’ve got the game to get back on. But it’s a bit of a pot luck, isn’t it, really? You could be the best player in the world, but you ain’t guaranteed to get on through that system.
‘No player’s got a God-given right to be on the tour, you know. I’ve heard it all before. People say he’s too good to fall off and whatever. Well, they’re not. But, like I say, people don’t really know about a difficult situation. But there you go. I didn’t handle it very well.
‘I’ve been practicing hard, down in Yate, near Bristol with Andrew Norman.’
Milkins is well aware that he would have to look at other options if Q School did not go to plan, but hasn’t allowed too much thought about it, given a return to the tour is what he is focussed on.
‘I couldn’t even do coaching or nothing because my coaching style would be completely different to anyone else’s. You know?’ Milkins said.
‘If the worst comes to the worst, I’ll go and play pool somewhere, or go over to China or something, I don’t know.’
Milkins had a couple of nightmare seasons in terms of results, but pointed to the odd highlight in there which showed he can still produced brilliant stuff.
At the Xi’an Grand Prix in October, Milkins beat Zhao Xintong and then knocked in four tons in a win over Jimmy Robertson.
‘I played Jimmy Robertson, my best mate, in China not that long ago. I had four centuries and an 80 and beat him 5-4!’ Milkins recalled.
‘He reminds me of that all the time. He said, “you had four centuries all season, and had four against me!” Then he had to mend my tip after that. He wasn’t happy.’
Clearly doubts over his game have crept in after a tough time on and off the table, but confidence remains.
‘I think I’m good enough,’ he said. ‘I’ve never been one to kid myself, but if I wasn’t capable of winning a ranking event, even now, I wouldn’t even be in Q School.’
Milkins plays Figueiredo at 7pm on Friday in the quarter-finals of the World Seniors.
The two Q School events are then held between 20-31 May in Leicester.