Snooker: Milkins ready for the rocket
"I’ve got nothing to lose," said Crucible debutant Robert Milkins last night as the prospect of facing defending champion Ronnie O’Sullivan began to sink in.
World No 54 Milkins, the 26-year-old from Gloucester, edged out Fergal O’Brien 10-8 in the first round of the £1.6 million Embassy World Championship and will take on O’Sullivan in the last 16 tomorrow.
"I’m not really thinking about playing Ronnie yet, but I’ll be under no pressure and if I play well I might have a chance," said Milkins.
"Winning a match here is the best result of my career by far. I have been to the last 16 of a couple of tournaments but this is the big one - the one that all the players dream of."
There was disappointment for Dubliner O’Brien who is now certain to drop out of the top 16. The 30-year-old battled as hard as ever but was always playing catch-up as Milkins showed notable composure on his first appearance at snooker’s most famous venue and became the only debutant this year to reach the second round.
Both players missed chances in the first frame of the evening session. O’Brien trapped Milkins in a snooker on the green then produced a superb pot to a baulk pocket and added the brown to square the tie at 5-5.
The Englishman regained the lead with a 25 clearance then snatched frame 12 with an excellent long pot on the final blue which left him perfect on the pink. Some impressive safety play in the next put Milkins 8-5 up at the interval and within two frames of victory.
Tenacious O’Brien cut his arrears to 8-7 before Milkins fluked the penultimate red then cleared from green to pink to go two up with three to play.
The Dubliner kept the pressure on his opponent by pulling one back but he broke down on 16 in frame 18 and a relieved Milkins sealed the match with a cool 64 - the highest break of the second session.
"I was struggling a bit to get over the line but I did it with a nice break," said Milkins.
"I won a few of the close frames tonight and had a bit of luck, which always helps.
"The atmosphere out there was electric and was arena was packed, although that didn’t make much difference to me because I am nervous at every venue. I might have looked relaxed but believe me I wasn’t - I was twitching a fair bit.
"I’ve played Ronnie once before - he beat me 5-1 in the Grand Prix a couple of years ago. When he is in the mood there is nothing you can do - I just had to sit back and admire him. No one has ever played that well against me.
"But I hope to be sharp and I won’t play negatively. I got a bit too quick at times today so I’ll have to make sure I control my pace around the table."
