Milkins and Davis Face Tour Relegation After World Championship Qualifier Defeats
Two Decades of Tour Football Coming to an End
A significant chapter in professional snooker's recent history may be drawing to a close. Robert Milkins and Mark Davis — two Englishmen who between them have accumulated more than six decades of tour experience — both suffered World Championship qualifier defeats at the English Institute of Sport on Thursday, results that have left their professional futures in serious jeopardy.
Davis fell 10-6 to China's Gao Yang, whilst Milkins endured a heavier defeat, losing 10-3 to amateur top-up Patrick Whelan. With those second-round exits confirmed, both players will finish the 2024–25 season outside the world's top 64 — the threshold that determines whether a player retains their tour card for the following campaign. According to the provisional end-of-season standings on CueTracker, Davis sits 65th and Milkins 69th, meaning neither can climb above that critical cut-off point regardless of any remaining results.
The Rankings Picture: Is There Any Lifeline?
For Milkins, there had been a potential alternative route to survival. Four two-year cards are available through the one-year rankings list, allocated to players outside the official top 64 who have demonstrated strong short-term form. However, having slipped to sixth on that one-year list, Milkins now appears unlikely to claim one of those positions either, leaving him facing the prospect of attending Q School — the qualifying event through which players outside the professional tour attempt to regain their place.
Davis finds himself in an even more straightforward situation, in the unfortunate sense. He does not feature in a competitive position on the one-year rankings at all, meaning Q School almost certainly awaits the 53-year-old if he intends to continue his professional career. Given he turned professional in 1991, that would represent a journey of more than 30 years coming full circle.
Mark Davis: A Career Built on Consistency and Six-Reds Success
Davis's longevity on the tour has been remarkable. Turning professional in 1991, the Sussex-born cueman spent the better part of three decades as a dependable fixture on the circuit, peaking at a career-high ranking of 12th in the world. His most prominent moment in the standard format came at the 2018 English Open final, where he came within one match of a maiden ranking title before losing to Stuart Bingham. He also made multiple semi-final appearances at ranking events across his career and qualified for the Crucible Theatre on 12 separate occasions — a testament to his consistency over the long term.
Perhaps his most decorated body of work came in the six-reds format. Davis won three Six-Red World Championship titles between 2009 and 2013, establishing himself as one of the foremost exponents of that discipline. Whilst the standard-format ranking victories never materialised, those achievements underline a career that, whilst not defined by trophies, was built on professionalism and durability.
Milkins: A Sharper Decline From Greater Heights
The trajectory for Milkins has been considerably more abrupt. Whereas Davis's gradual slide down the rankings had been anticipated for some time, the 50-year-old from Gloucester appeared to be entering his peak years as recently as 2023. That year he claimed his most significant career title, defeating Shaun Murphy in the final of the Welsh Open — a victory that underlined his quality at the highest level. He had previously also lifted the Gibraltar Open title.
More striking still is that Milkins reached the last 16 of the World Championship just two years ago, competing at the Crucible at a stage of the tournament where only 16 players remain. That run now seems a distant memory. The past two seasons have seen a dramatic deterioration in results, with appearances deep into tournaments becoming increasingly rare. Thursday's 10-3 defeat to Whelan — an amateur entrant — was a sobering conclusion to what has been a difficult period.
What Happens Next?
Both players will need to decide whether to pursue a return via Q School, a demanding multi-stage qualifying event that offers a limited number of professional tour places to successful competitors. It is a route that several experienced professionals have taken in recent years, though success is far from guaranteed, particularly against a field that typically includes hungry younger players seeking their first tour card.
Having each been ranked as high as 12th in the world and having contributed substantially to the sport across multiple generations, Milkins and Davis deserve recognition for careers of genuine substance. Whether either chooses to continue remains to be seen, but Thursday's results mean the decision is now firmly in their hands rather than the ranking system's.