In the early morning of March 27, Beijing time, the 2022 Snooker Gibraltar Open came to an end, and Robert Milkins defeated Karen Wilson 4-2 in the final to win the first ranking championship in a 27-year career, and won the largest prize of 50,000 pounds so far.
Milkins, 46, from Gloucester, has reached the final four of the ranking round six times since he turned professional in 1995 so far before winning the title this week. With his outstanding performance this week, Milkins became the oldest "first title" winner of the ranking competition since Doug Montejow won the British Championship in 1988. Just before this week, Milkins had just won 3 games in the 2021/22 season.
Several players have enjoyed the "first crown" experience this season – David Gilbert, Zhao Xintong, Hussein Wafi, Fan Zhengyi. Milkins and the aforementioned players will make their debuts in the Champions-of-a-Crown invitational later this year, and his world ranking has risen from 43rd to 28th.
At the end of the tournament, the £150,000 Grand Prize of the 'European Series' with a total of eight tournament jackpots was settled, and the only contender in the final four, Richie Wharton, lost 3-4 to Karen Wilson, which was awarded to John Higgins. Wilson, on the other hand, could leapfrog Higgins to get a spot at next week's Tour Championship, but lost his 7th of his 11 ranking finals, missing a good opportunity.
In the final, Wilson scored a single 59 points but deflected a difficult black ball, and Milkins scored a 71 point first. The two sides tangled for a long time in the colored ball phase in the second inning, with Wilson, who was 19 points behind, creating a chance but failing to thin the yellow ball, and Milkins extended his lead to make it 2-0 and took the match point in the third inning with a single shot of 62 points.
Wilson scored 65 points to chase back a set, Milkins had a winning chance in the 5th set but missed the bag of powder balls, and the last red ball was overscored by the opponent to make snooker, 2-3. In the 6th inning, Wilson still had a chance to hold his opponent back from winning the championship, but Milkins scored a 44-point victory after losing a mid-pocketed powder ball 10-30 behind.
As of now, Milkins is the 4th fastest average player in the entire season, and his average shooting time is 19.29 seconds.
Milkins said after winning the title: "I've waited a long time, my whole career has been working hard for this moment, and finally my dream came true. It's hard to keep training going without payoff, but a moment like this makes me feel like it's all worth it. To be honest I didn't expect to have this day, I haven't had a smooth time lately, I really didn't expect it to be like this. ”
"There was a time in my career where I felt like I had a chance to win the title, but lately I've had a hard time even winning the next game. The standard of play is high now and I may struggle to keep my professional qualification next season. I'm happy to have this result, as obviously there's not much time left for me! This win will make a difference for me and I love Gibraltar, it's one of the best venues and being able to enjoy the journey here. Thank you to the fans, their support has been great. ”
"I want to dedicate this victory to the people I lost who were with me — my father and mother, and others."
Wilson said: "This is a special moment for Robert [Milkins] and I want to congratulate him. I was completely inconspicuous in the final, and I had no feel at all. If I could have won the first set of tonight I might have been able to calm down and suppress the opponent, but he made a really good clearance. Then I played very nervously, but I tried to fight for it when I was 3-0 behind. ”