Robert Milkins won his second career ranking title by beating Shaun Murphy 9-7 in a thrilling Welsh Open final.
Milkins’ only other ranking title win was last year’s Gibraltar Open.
“Gibraltar was brilliant but beating Shaun in a final is the icing on the cake. You have to play well to beat Shaun,” Milkins, 46, told BBC Wales.
After Murphy levelled the match at 5-5, Milkins won four of the next six frames to secure the Ray Reardon Trophy and a top prize of £80,000.
The Gloucester player also won a bonus of £150,000 by assuring top spot in the eight-match BetVictor series ranking list, taking his earnings for the week to £230,000.
“It’s unreal – that’s a lot of money to me,” Milkins added after beating his fellow Englishman.
The most Milkins had previously earned in an entire season was £139.000, while this victory also brings him back in the world’s top 16 players.
The final, held for the first time at Llandudno’s Venue Cymru, went into the evening session level at 4-4 following a stirring comeback from Milkins in the afternoon.
After going 3-1 down, Milkins won the next three frames to take the lead for the first time ,then won three of the first four frames of the evening to move 7-5 ahead at the mid-session interval.
He won a tense 11th frame on a respotted black.
At 8-6 down, Harlow-born Murphy made a superb break of 114 – the only century break of the match – but Milkins responded with a break of 64 to secure his second ranking title.
Murphy, the 2005 world champion who is still without a ranking title win since the 2020 Welsh Open in Cardiff, was gracious in defeat .
“I made far too many unforced errors. I couldn’t have tried any harder,” Murphy said.
“All credit to Rob, he was by far the better player. He fully deserved the victory.”
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