Born | Bedminster Down, Bristol, England | 6 March 1976
---|---|
Sport country | England |
Nickname | The Milkman [1] |
Professional | 1995–present |
Highest ranking | 12 (February 2014 and June 2023) [2] |
Current ranking | 22 (as of 28 October 2024) |
Maximum breaks | 3 |
Century breaks | 195 (as of 4 November 2024) |
Tournament wins | |
Ranking | 2 |
Robert Milkins (born 6 March 1976) is an English professional snooker player known for quick play. Milkins has been a member of snooker's main tour since regaining a tour card in 1998.
Milkins reached a career high rank of 12 in 2014 and 2023, and has been in and around the world's top 32 for two decades. At age 46, after 27 years as a professional, he won his first ranking title at the 2022 Gibraltar Open, becoming the oldest first-time winner of a ranking event since Doug Mountjoy at the 1988 UK Championship. [3] He won his second ranking title at the 2023 Welsh Open, where he also secured the BetVictor Series bonus of £150,000 for winning the most cumulative prize money across the series' eight events. [4]
Milkins turned professional in 1995, but dropped off the Main Tour when it was reduced in size after the 1996/1997 season, only to return a year later via the UK Tour. After four seasons of solid progress, with the occasional last-16 runs, he reached the last-16 of the World Snooker Championship in 2002, and the first round in each of the next three years.
He made history in qualifying for the 2006 World Snooker Championship by making a 147 break in his match against Mark Selby. He became only the sixth player to achieve a maximum in the tournament, and the first to do so in qualifying (as a result, he earned £5,000; in the main tournament, it would have been worth £147,000). [5] He ultimately lost to Selby 4–10, becoming only the second player to lose a World Championship match despite a 147, the other being Ronnie O'Sullivan against Marco Fu in 2003. Milkins also made a maximum break against Xiao Guodong in the fourth qualifying round of the 2012 tournament, and this time he won the match 10–4. He has also been on the wrong end of a 147 in the tournament – Mark Williams completed a 10–1 victory in the first round of the 2005 tournament with a final-frame maximum.
In 2005, he reached the Irish Masters semi-final, but lost 8–9 against Matthew Stevens. [6]
He lost in the final qualifying round of the World Championships for the second year in a row in 2007 – 10–4 against Mark Allen. In 2008, he did not get this far, losing 10–4 to Barry Pinches.
At the 2006 Grand Prix, he and Ronnie O'Sullivan were the only players to win all 5 group matches; however, Milkins lost 5–0 to eventual finalist Jamie Cope in the last 16. The 2007–08 season was a poor one for Milkins, as he slipped down the rankings to number 51.
Milkins had a strong run at the 2008 Bahrain Championship. After being elevated into the top 48 seeds due to a clash with previously arranged Premier League Snooker matches, he won two qualifiers before reaching the quarter-finals at the venue, defeating Michael Holt 5–4 in the last, 16 having trailed 0–3.
In 2009, Milkins joined player management company, On Q Promotions Ltd. of Gloucester.
Milkins' walk on music for the main stages of events is I Am a Cider Drinker by The Wurzels, and after his defeat in the 2014 Ruhr Open Final, he performed a verse of the song in his post-match interview to the crowd.
Milkins reached the second ranking-event semi-final of his career in the 2012 World Open. He qualified for the tournament with 5–1 and 5–0 wins over Sam Craigie and Ryan Day respectively. He was required to play in a wildcard round once at the event in Haikou, China, where he beat amateur Thanawat Thirapongpaiboon 5–3 to set up a first round encounter against Stephen Maguire which Milkins won by another 5–3 scoreline. [7] He defeated Jin Long 5–2, before dispatching reigning world champion John Higgins 5–3 in the quarter-finals. [8] However, Milkins lost his last 4 encounter with Stephen Lee 2–6 and admitted after the match his performance levels had dropped from his previous displays in the tournament. [9] Milkins also reached the second round of the Shanghai Masters and the first round of the UK Championship during the 2011–12 season and made a 147 break in the qualifying stage of the World Championship. [7] He finished 2011/12 ranked world number 36.
Milkins began the 2012–13 season by qualifying for the Wuxi Classic by beating Liu Chuang and Ryan Day. Once at the venue in China he came through the wildcard round and then defeated Andrew Higginson 5–3, world number two Judd Trump 5–3 (after being 1–3 down) to reach the quarter-finals where he was on the wrong side of a 5–3 scoreline against Ricky Walden. [10] [11] After this Milkins lost in the qualifying draw of the Australian Goldfields Open and in the first round of four consecutive ranking events. [10] He bucked the trend at the Welsh Open by scoring 4–1 and 4–2 wins over Mark Williams and Sam Baird, but lost 1–5 to Ding Junhui in the quarter-finals. [12] Milkins followed this up by reaching the second round of both the World Open and the China Open, losing to Mark Allen and Stuart Bingham respectively. [10]
Milkins finished 41st on the Players Tour Championship Order of Merit, outside of the top 26 who secured berths into the Finals. [13] However, he took part in all three of the new Asian PTC's and performed well enough to finish 5th on the Order of Merit, which was high enough to qualify for the Finals. [14] There, Milkins lost 2–4 to Anthony McGill in the first round. [10] Milkins qualified for the World Championship for the first time in eight years by defeating six-time runner-up Jimmy White 10–5 in the final qualifying round. [15] Milkins was drawn against world number two and 2010 champion Neil Robertson in the first round, and defeated him 10–8 having trailed 2–5 and described the win as the best of his career afterwards. [16] He found himself 3–9 down to Ricky Walden in the second round, but stormed back into the match to only trail 10–11 before falling short of completing a remarkable comeback as Walden secured the two frames he required to seal a 13–11 win. [17] His successful season saw him rise 18 places in the rankings to world number 18, the highest he has ended a season to date. [18]
He continued his form into the 2013 Wuxi Classic, the first ranking event of the 2013–14 season. Milkins beat John Astley 5–0, Jimmy White 5–3, Scott Donaldson 5–1 and Anthony Hamilton 5–3. [19] In Milkins' third ranking event semi-final of his career he faced new world number one Neil Robertson and lost all four frames in the first mini session, going on to be beaten 2–6. [20] [21] His consistent play carried into the next ranking event, the Australian Goldfields Open by seeing off Ben Woollaston 5–3, Rory McLeod 5–2 and Tom Ford 5–3 to reach another semi-final. [19] Milkins was 1–4 down against Marco Fu, but pulled it back to 4–4 before losing the next two frames to fall short of making his first ranking final. [22] Milkins advanced to the fourth round of the 2013 UK Championship, but was thrashed 6–0 by Ronnie O'Sullivan. [23] Nevertheless, he was ranked inside the top 16 after the event to qualify for the Masters for the first time in his career. [24] He faced O'Sullivan in a one sided match once again with Milkins losing 6–1. [25]
Milkins' season finished in disappointment as he lost in qualifying for the German Masters and China Open, the first round of the Welsh Open and second round of the World Open. [19] His match against Michael Wasley in the final round of World Championship qualifying went to a re-spotted black in the deciding frame which Wasley potted to beat Milkins 10–9. [26] He dropped out of the top 16 by the end of the season to finish it as the world number 20. [27]
Milkins began the season well once again by beating Liang Wenbo 5–3 and John Higgins 5–2 to play Neil Robertson in the quarter-finals of the Australian Goldfields Open and was defeated 5–2. [28] [29] He eliminated Barry Pinches 6–2, Shaun Murphy 6–1 and Xiao Guodong 6–4 to play in the quarter-finals of the International Championship. [30] A high quality match with Marco Fu followed which Milkins edged 6–5. He said ahead of his match with Ricky Walden that he had to forget it was a semi-final and focus on his game in an attempt to reach his first ranking event final. [31] However, it would be a fifth exit at the last four stage as Milkins was thrashed 9–2. [32] In November, he reached the final of the minor-ranking Ruhr Open, but lost 4–0 against Murphy. [33]
Milkins did not drop a frame in seeing off Michael Leslie and Marcus Campbell at the UK Championship, but was then whitewashed 6–0 by Graeme Dott in the last 32. [30] In the first round of the Masters he was beaten 6–4 by Robertson having been 4–3 ahead. [34] Milkins won through to the quarter-finals of the Indian Open and lost 4–1 to Mark Williams. [30] After he overcame Michael White 5–1 at the China Open, Milkins knew that he had to reach the final to enter the top 16 in the world rankings and avoid playing three qualifying matches for the World Championship. [35] In his fourth ranking event quarter-final of the season, Milkins led Mark Selby on four occasions but each time he levelled and Selby won the deciding frame 71–0. [36] Milkins did win three matches to qualify for the World Championship and lost 10–5 to John Higgins in the opening round. [37] Milkins finished the season inside the top 16 for the first time in his career as he was 16th. [38]
Milkins lost 5–3 in the second round of the Australian Goldfields Open to Joe Perry and 5–0 in the first round of the Shanghai Masters to Judd Trump. He reached the semi-finals of the Asian Tour's Haining Open, but was defeated 4–1 by Ricky Walden. [39] Milkins was knocked out in the second round of the UK Championship 6–2 by David Grace. [40] His second last 16 appearance in a ranking event this season came at the PTC Finals courtesy of eliminating Tian Pengfei 4–1. He had chances in the deciding frame against Barry Hawkins to make the quarter-finals, but failed to take them to lose 4–3. [41] Milkins ensured his place in the World Championship draw by beating Kurt Maflin 10–7. [39] He fell 7–2 behind Mark Selby after the first session, before winning four frames in a row upon the resumption of play to trail by one. However, Selby then took the three frames he needed to overcome Milkins 10–6. [42]
Milkins lost in the third round of the Indian Open 4–2 to amateur David Lilley. He did not win another match at the venue stage of a ranking event until November when he beat Hamza Akbar 6–1 at the UK Championship. [43] Milkins followed that up with a 6–5 victory over Hammad Miah, before playing in his opinion the worst match of his professional career as he was defeated 6–1 by Mark Selby. [44] His first ranking event quarter-final in two years came at the Scottish Open by beating Anthony Hamiltom 4–3, but he lost 5–3 to Judd Trump. [45] At the next Home Nations event, the Welsh Open he went one better by overcoming Kurt Maflin 5–2 to play in his sixth ranking event semi-final. Stuart Bingham whitewashed him 6–0. [46]
Milkins has spoken openly about problems with debt, lack of motivation and harmful use of alcohol. [47] He was coached by 1979 World Champion Terry Griffiths up until the end of the 2014/2015 season. [48] He has three children.
Tournament | 1995/ 96 | 1996/ 97 | 1997/ 98 | 1998/ 99 | 1999/ 00 | 2000/ 01 | 2001/ 02 | 2002/ 03 | 2003/ 04 | 2004/ 05 | 2005/ 06 | 2006/ 07 | 2007/ 08 | 2008/ 09 | 2009/ 10 | 2010/ 11 | 2011/ 12 | 2012/ 13 | 2013/ 14 | 2014/ 15 | 2015/ 16 | 2016/ 17 | 2017/ 18 | 2018/ 19 | 2019/ 20 | 2020/ 21 | 2021/ 22 | 2022/ 23 | 2023/ 24 | 2024/ 25 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Ranking [49] [nb 1] | [nb 2] | 231 | 91 | 99 | 100 | 75 | 54 | 33 | 21 | 28 | 26 | 32 | 47 | 51 | 55 | 36 | 33 | 36 | 18 | 20 | 16 | 21 | 34 | 35 | 36 | 49 | 37 | 27 | 12 | 17 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Ranking tournaments | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Championship League | Tournament Not Held | Non-Ranking Event | 2R | RR | 2R | 3R | RR | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Xi'an Grand Prix | Tournament Not Held | LQ | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Saudi Arabia Masters | Tournament Not Held | 3R | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
English Open | Tournament Not Held | 1R | 3R | 4R | 1R | 1R | LQ | 2R | 2R | 1R | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
British Open | LQ | 1R | A | LQ | LQ | 3R | LQ | 1R | 1R | 2R | Tournament Not Held | 1R | LQ | 1R | LQ | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Wuhan Open | Tournament Not Held | 2R | 1R | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Northern Ireland Open | Tournament Not Held | 1R | QF | 1R | 1R | 2R | 1R | 3R | LQ | 2R | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
International Championship | Tournament Not Held | 1R | 1R | SF | LQ | LQ | 3R | 2R | 2R | Not Held | LQ | LQ | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
UK Championship | LQ | 2R | A | LQ | 1R | LQ | 1R | QF | 1R | 2R | 1R | 1R | LQ | LQ | LQ | LQ | 1R | 1R | 4R | 3R | 2R | 3R | 2R | 2R | 2R | 3R | 2R | LQ | 2R | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Shoot Out | Tournament Not Held | Non-ranking Event | 2R | 2R | 1R | 1R | QF | 1R | 2R | 2R | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Scottish Open [nb 3] | LQ | LQ | A | LQ | LQ | LQ | 1R | 2R | 1R | Tournament Not Held | MR | Not Held | QF | 2R | 2R | 2R | 3R | LQ | 2R | LQ | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
German Masters [nb 4] | LQ | LQ | A | NR | Tournament Not Held | 1R | LQ | 1R | LQ | LQ | LQ | LQ | LQ | 2R | 1R | LQ | LQ | SF | 2R | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Welsh Open | LQ | LQ | A | 1R | LQ | LQ | LQ | LQ | QF | 1R | 3R | 1R | LQ | LQ | LQ | LQ | LQ | QF | 1R | 1R | 2R | SF | 1R | 1R | 3R | 2R | LQ | W | 3R | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
World Open [nb 5] | LQ | LQ | A | 1R | LQ | 3R | LQ | LQ | 1R | 2R | 1R | 2R | LQ | LQ | QF | LQ | SF | 2R | 2R | Not Held | LQ | 2R | 3R | LQ | Not Held | 2R | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
World Grand Prix | Tournament Not Held | NR | DNQ | DNQ | 1R | DNQ | DNQ | 2R | DNQ | 1R | DNQ | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Players Championship [nb 6] | Tournament Not Held | DNQ | DNQ | 1R | DNQ | 1R | 2R | DNQ | DNQ | DNQ | DNQ | DNQ | DNQ | QF | DNQ | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Tour Championship | Tournament Not Held | DNQ | DNQ | DNQ | DNQ | QF | DNQ | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
World Championship | LQ | LQ | LQ | LQ | LQ | LQ | 2R | 1R | 1R | 1R | LQ | LQ | LQ | LQ | LQ | LQ | LQ | 2R | LQ | 1R | 1R | LQ | 2R | LQ | LQ | LQ | LQ | 2R | 2R | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Non-ranking tournaments | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Shanghai Masters | Tournament Not Held | Ranking Event | A | A | Not Held | QF | A | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Champion of Champions | Tournament Not Held | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | 1R | QF | A | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The Masters | LQ | LQ | LQ | LQ | LQ | LQ | LQ | LQ | LQ | A | A | A | A | LQ | LQ | A | A | A | 1R | 1R | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | 1R | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Championship League | Tournament Not Held | A | A | A | A | A | RR | RR | RR | RR | RR | RR | RR | RR | RR | A | A | WD | RR | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
World Seniors Championship | Tournament Not Held | A | A | A | A | A | QF | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Former ranking tournaments | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Asian Classic [nb 7] | LQ | LQ | Tournament Not Held | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Malta Grand Prix | Non-Ranking Event | 2R | NR | Tournament Not Held | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Thailand Masters [nb 8] | LQ | LQ | A | LQ | LQ | LQ | LQ | NR | Not Held | NR | Tournament Not Held | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Irish Masters | Non-Ranking Event | 1R | LQ | SF | NH | NR | Tournament Not Held | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Northern Ireland Trophy | Tournament Not Held | NR | 2R | LQ | LQ | Tournament Not Held | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Bahrain Championship | Tournament Not Held | QF | Tournament Not Held | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Wuxi Classic [nb 9] | Tournament Not Held | Non-Ranking Event | QF | SF | 2R | Tournament Not Held | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Australian Goldfields Open [nb 10] | NR | Tournament Not Held | LQ | LQ | SF | QF | 2R | Tournament Not Held | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Shanghai Masters | Tournament Not Held | LQ | LQ | LQ | WR | 2R | 1R | 2R | 1R | 1R | 1R | 2R | Non-Ranking | Not Held | Non-Ranking | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Paul Hunter Classic [nb 11] | Tournament Not Held | Pro-am Event | Minor-Ranking Event | WD | 1R | 2R | NR | Tournament Not Held | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Indian Open | Tournament Not Held | LQ | QF | NH | 3R | 1R | LQ | Tournament Not Held | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
China Open [nb 12] | Not Held | NR | LQ | LQ | LQ | LQ | Not Held | 1R | LQ | LQ | LQ | 1R | 1R | 2R | LQ | 2R | LQ | QF | 2R | 1R | LQ | 1R | Tournament Not Held | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Riga Masters [nb 13] | Tournament Not Held | Minor-Rank | LQ | 2R | 1R | WD | Tournament Not Held | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
China Championship | Tournament Not Held | NR | 1R | 1R | LQ | Tournament Not Held | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
WST Pro Series | Tournament Not Held | 2R | Tournament Not Held | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Turkish Masters | Tournament Not Held | 1R | Not Held | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Gibraltar Open | Tournament Not Held | MR | 2R | 1R | QF | 1R | 3R | W | Not Held | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
WST Classic | Tournament Not Held | 2R | Not Held | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
European Masters [nb 14] | LQ | 1R | NH | LQ | Not Held | 1R | 1R | LQ | 1R | 1R | 1R | NR | Tournament Not Held | LQ | LQ | LQ | 1R | 2R | LQ | 3R | LQ | NH | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Former non-ranking tournaments | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
World Grand Prix | Tournament Not Held | 2R | Ranking Event | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Shoot-Out | Tournament Not Held | F | 3R | 2R | 1R | 1R | QF | Ranking Event | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Six-red World Championship [nb 15] | Tournament Not Held | A | A | A | NH | A | 3R | 2R | 3R | 2R | A | A | A | Not Held | RR | Not Held |
Performance Table Legend | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
LQ | lost in the qualifying draw | #R | lost in the early rounds of the tournament (WR = Wildcard round, RR = Round robin) | QF | lost in the quarter-finals |
SF | lost in the semi-finals | F | lost in the final | W | won the tournament |
DNQ | did not qualify for the tournament | A | did not participate in the tournament | WD | withdrew from the tournament |
NH / Not Held | means an event was not held. | |||
NR / Non-Ranking Event | means an event is/was no longer a ranking event. | |||
R / Ranking Event | means an event is/was a ranking event. | |||
MR / Minor-Ranking Event | means an event is/was a minor-ranking event. | |||
PA / Pro-am Event | means an event is/was a pro-am event. |
Outcome | No. | Year | Championship | Opponent in the final | Score |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Winner | 1. | 2022 | Gibraltar Open | Kyren Wilson | 4–2 |
Winner | 2. | 2023 | Welsh Open | Shaun Murphy | 9–7 |
Outcome | No. | Year | Championship | Opponent in the final | Score |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Runner-up | 1. | 2014 | Ruhr Open | Shaun Murphy | 0–4 |
Outcome | No. | Year | Championship | Opponent in the final | Score |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Runner-up | 1. | 1998 | UK Tour – Event 3 | Simon Bedford | 4–6 |
Winner | 1. | 2009 | Pro Challenge Series – Event 3 | Joe Jogia | 5–3 |
Runner-up | 2. | 2011 | Snooker Shoot Out | Nigel Bond | 0–1 |
Outcome | No. | Year | Championship | Opponent in the final | Score |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Winner | 1. | 2017 | Pink Ribbon | Rob James | 4–2 |
Alan McManus is a Scottish retired professional snooker player, and a current commentator and pundit for ITV and Eurosport on snooker coverage. A mainstay of the world's top sixteen during the 1990s and 2000s, he has won two ranking events, the 1994 Dubai Classic and the 1996 Thailand Open, and competed in the World Championship semi-finals in 1992, 1993 and 2016. He also won the 1994 Masters, ending Stephen Hendry's five-year, 23-match unbeaten streak at the tournament with a 9–8 victory in the final. McManus announced his retirement on 9 April 2021 after losing 6–3 to Bai Langning in the second qualifying round of the 2021 World Snooker Championship.
Mark King is an English former professional snooker player.
Jamie Burnett is a Scottish former professional snooker player from Hamilton, South Lanarkshire.
Barry Hawkins is an English professional snooker player from Ditton, Kent. He turned professional in 1996, but only rose to prominence in the 2004–05 snooker season, when he reached the last 16 of the 2004 UK Championship, the quarter-finals of the 2004 British Open and the semi-finals of the 2005 Welsh Open. He has now spent twelve successive seasons ranked inside the top 32. Hawkins reached his first ranking final and won his first ranking title at the 2012 Australian Goldfields Open.
Neil Robertson is an Australian professional snooker player, who is a former world champion and former world number one. To date, he is the most successful player from outside the United Kingdom, and the only non-UK born to have completed snooker's Triple Crown, having won the World Championship in 2010, the Masters in 2012 and 2022, and the UK Championship in 2013, 2015 and 2020. He has claimed a career total of 24 ranking titles, having won at least one professional tournament every year between 2006 and 2022.
Ricky Walden is an English professional snooker player from Chester.
David Morris is an Irish former professional snooker player. In the 2015-2016 he was ranked as Ireland's number 3 player, after Fergal O'Brien and Ken Doherty.
Kurt Graham Maflin is an English-Norwegian former professional snooker player. A strong break-builder, Maflin has compiled more than 200 century breaks during his career and has made two 147 breaks in professional competition.
Andrew Higginson is an English professional snooker player from Widnes, Cheshire. He is best known for being the surprise finalist of the 2007 Welsh Open.
Tian Pengfei is a Chinese professional snooker player. He began his career by playing the Challenge Tour in 2004, at the time the second-level professional tour. Tian played on the Main Tour in 2006 and competed on the World Snooker Tour for two seasons until he dropped off in 2008. He won the Beijing International Challenge, and returned to the Main Tour the following year.
Li Hang is a Chinese former professional snooker player who, in 2023, was permanently banned from the sport after committing a range of match-fixing offences. Li first competed professionally during the 2008–09 season. His best performances during his professional career were reaching two ranking semi-finals. He reached a career high of 28th in the snooker world rankings in 2019.
Mei Xiwen is a Chinese former professional snooker player.
Noppon Saengkham is a Thai professional snooker player. Since turning professional in 2010, he has reached one ranking final in which he finished as runner-up to Gary Wilson.
Anthony McGill is a Scottish professional snooker player. He is a practice partner of retired snooker player Alan McManus.
Jack Lisowski is an English professional snooker player from Churchdown, Gloucestershire. He turned professional in 2010 by finishing first in the 2009/2010 PIOS rankings. A left-handed player, he is known for his attacking style of play.
Robbie Williams is an English professional snooker player.
Scott Donaldson is a Scottish professional snooker player.
John J. Astley is an English former professional snooker player from Gateshead, Tyne and Wear.
Hammad Miah is an English professional snooker player.
Joe O'Connor is an English professional snooker player from Leicester. He was the 2018 English Amateur Champion and a ranking event finalist at the 2022 Scottish Open.