Robert Milkins has only one more chance to get out of Q School with a main tour place after losing 4-3 to Duane Jones in Event 1 on Saturday.
The Milkman led 3-1 in the round-of-64 fixture, but Jones fought back to take the last three frames and advance instead.
The early-round loss is another indication that the long professional career of the two-time former ranking event winner is coming to an end.
A professional on the World Snooker Tour since 1995, Milkins was ranked as high as number 12 in the world as recently as 2023.
It was in that same year when he memorably won the Welsh Open, beating Shaun Murphy in the final to also land the lucrative BetVictor bonus from the European Series.
But a rapid decline followed, and Milkins finished the recent term outside the crucial top 64 cut-off point to suffer relegation.
The 50 year-old will hope to quickly find form when he participates in Q School Event 2 next week at the Mattioli Arena in Leicester.
For Jones, the Welshman continued his progress in the competition as he attempts to become a Q School graduate for a record-equalling fourth time.
Elsewhere, several other experienced players bowed out of the running.
Peter Lines suffered a 4-0 loss to Sean Maddocks, Andrew Higginson was beaten 4-3 by Dean Young, while Mark Joyce exited with a 4-2 reverse to Patrick Whelan.
Allan Taylor, Gerard Greene, and Gong Chenzhi were also defeated after respective losses to Luke Pinches, Ian Martin, and Hamim Hussain.
There were victories, however, for young trio Robbie McGuigan, Liam Davies, and Kaylan Patel.
Phil O’Kane produced the comeback of the day with the Englishman retrieving a 3-0 deficit to pip Zachary Richardson in a deciding frame.
Among the others to continue in the tournament were Rory McLeod, Barry Pinches, Sean O’Sullivan, Cheung Ka Wai, and Chris Totten.
A busy Sunday will see the field whittled down to its final eight contenders, with the four pro cards on offer from Event 1 to be dished out on Monday.
In Bangkok, Asia-Oceania Q School Event 2 concludes on Sunday, and it’s an all-Chinese lineup at the Kiatthada Billiards and Snooker Club.
Liang Xiaolong plays Huang Jiahao while Chen Ruifu encounters Liu Yang, with the two winners securing two-year professional cards for the 2026/27 and 2027/28 campaigns.
Thanawat Thirapongpaiboon and Deng Haohui emerged successfully from Asia-Oceania Q School Event 1 a week ago.
All the updated Q School draws are available on snooker.org.
Featured photo credit: WST
Scores can be pretty low at this level.
Justin Thomond 55 – Simon Blackwell 12
Jack Bradford 55 – Luke Pinches 21
Barry Pinches 52 – Nathan Jones 28
Shows what a game of millimeters snooker is — all it takes to go from #12 to fighting to get back on the tour is for your game to be a tiny bit off — and no matter how hard you try, you just cannot eliminate those millimeters of inaccuracy from your game.
Saw Milkins play in the first Q school event — he looked a little bit cocky the way he was moving around the table (as I recall, he won that match easily) — perhaps some humility and more concentration is in order now.