Robert Milkins admits reason behind 'terrible' season and 'disgusting' form

01/24/2025 10:34 AM

Robert Milkins says his season so far has been ‘terrible’ and his break-building ‘disgusting’ which he simply puts down to a lack of effort on the practice table.

It was only last year that the Milkman arrived at the Crucible as a seeded player, thanks to his memorable win at the 2023 Welsh Open.

This campaign has not been good, though, without a run to a quarter-final in any event and languishing down at number 85 on the one-year ranking list.

The 48-year-old has big tournaments coming up, starting with the German Masters next week, so there is time to turn things around, but he knows he needs to put the work in.

‘My season’s been terrible. I’ve lost to a lot of lower-ranked players this year and you lose your confidence and belief,’ Milkins told Metro.

‘I’ve just been a bit lazy again, to be honest. Not putting enough time in. When you disrespect the game it can kick you.

‘The one area I’m struggling with at the moment is making breaks. I’m looking at my 50-break rate in the last two years and it’s been disgusting, shocking really. The whole game, safety, knowledge is always there now, but I need to remember how to make breaks.’

Milkins may be lacking some confidence but he has not given up on himself, still believing that when he puts in the hours and finds some form he is capable of climbing back into the top 20 in the world.

‘I know I’m safe to stay on tour and I just know that if I put the time in then next year will take care of itself,’ he said. ‘I’m not saying I’ll do anything like when I won Gibraltar and the Welsh, I’m probably not at that level but who knows? It would be nice to start hitting quarter-finals and the business end of tournaments again.

‘Every player knows his own ability. We can all play well, but I feel like my all-round game is very good. Not top level but 16-20 mark and really you shouldn’t be struggling to stay on tour.

‘I’m just trying to win some first rounders, get into the tournament and see where we go from there. I don’t want to be under pressure to stay on tour next year, I don’t think I should be in that situation but it can happen.’

The Milkman enjoyed a brilliant purple patch when he won his first ranking event after 27 years on tour at the 2022 Gibraltar Open and then followed that by an even bigger triumph at the Welsh.

That win in Llandudno also saw him scoop the £150,000 BetVictor Bonus and he would love to rediscover the belief he had in his game then, which has ebbed away since.

‘The belief was there. When I got to quarters or semis I wasn’t thinking I’d done well, I was believing I could win the tournament,’ he said.

‘It’s all about belief. You don’t have to play well to win these tournaments as long as you’ve got the belief. I didn’t play well to win the Welsh, played alright, but it’s nothing like I can play. It’s just that mentally I was in a good place.

‘I beat Mark Allen, Mark Selby, Shaun [Murphy] in the final, a couple of other good players, but it was nothing special. Sometimes it’s just meant to be and sometimes not.

‘I remember every time Shaun made a 100 break he was looking at the crowd and thanking them and it was really winding me up. It was doing my head in. But my head was in a good place so it didn’t really affect me.

‘Considering what I was playing for, looking back at it it was huge, so huge! I’m proud of myself for how I dealt with it.’

Milkins plays Xu Si in his opener at the German Masters in Berlin on Monday.