Robert Milkins cruised into the last 64 of Q School Event 1 with a 4-0 defeat of James Silverwood in Leicester on Friday.
The 50 year-old is undoubtedly the highest-profile player in the 2026 edition of the cut-throat competition, where more than 150 entrants are scrambling for just eight tour cards.
It was only just over three years ago that Milkins picked up the second of his two ranking titles, underlining just how rapid a decline he has suffered since.
The Englishman’s triumph at the 2023 Welsh Open, where he beat Shaun Murphy in the final, also earned him a whopping £150,000 BetVictor bonus as the most consistent player throughout that season’s Home Nations Series.
Fast forward to 2024 and Milkins was a top 16 seed at the 2024 World Snooker Championship, beating Pang Junxu en route to a spot in the second round.
But the former Gibraltar Open champion’s form then fell off a cliff in dramatic fashion.
He failed to reach the quarter-finals of a single ranking event across the recent two-year span, a streak that included several first-round exits which culminated in him ultimately dropping outside the top 64 in the world rankings.
Such was the level of surprise that he got relegated so soon after he last lifted silverware aloft, Milkins will probably feel that he has unfinished business on the World Snooker Tour.
Getting off to a good start at the Mattioli Arena will have given him a boost in confidence, but the draw randomness, pressure, and cut-throat nature of Q School means that the difficulty levels can rise in an instant.
Indeed, next up for Milkins is another fallen pro from the 2025/26 campaign with Duane Jones standing in his way of a berth in the last 32.
Jones has been here and bought the t-shirt – on numerous occasions in fact – with the Welshman graduating from Q School an impressive three times already.
The 33 year-old beat Ryan Thomerson 4-1 to set up what is already a high-stakes bout against Milkins in the first of two events.
Elsewhere, Peter Lines, Andrew Higginson, Mark Joyce, Barry Pinches, and Sean O’Sullivan were among some of the familiar faces who managed to stay in the running for now.
Younger threats Liam Davies, Kaylen Patel, Ryan Davies, and Sean Maddocks also moved forward.
But there is still a long way to go, with four more wins still required to get one of the four tickets that are available from the first Q School event.
The updated draws for every Q School event are available over at snooker.org.
In addition to the Milkins-Jones clash, there are a few other last-64 ties that look interesting.
There is an all-Hong Kong clash between fallen pros Cheung Ka Wai and Wang Yuchen, while young Northern Irishman Robbie McGuigan encounters dangerous German Umut Dikme.
Featured photo credit: WST
