By Sam Hawthorn, Sportsbeat

ROBERT Milkins needs to start delivering on his potential according to Ronnie O’Sullivan, after the Gloucester potter fell short of making the Coral Welsh Open final this weekend.

After a season in which he had failed to progress past the quarter-final stage of a tournament, Milkins hit form in Cardiff last week, making it all the way to the semi-finals where he faced Stuart Bingham.

But that was as good as it got for Milkins as world number two Bingham rattled off a 6-0 whitewash before beating Judd Trump on Sunday to lift the title.

Milkins, meanwhile, was left scratching his head with just one 50+ break in the entire match – a fact which was not lost on five-time World Champion O’Sullivan.

And while Milkins also reached the quarter-finals of the Coral Scottish Open late last year, O’Sullivan believes the 40-year-old is capable of much more.

“I think Milkins is a very, very good player,” he said.

“I think he is a dangerous opponent, he has made a few quarterfinals and semi finals but not yet has he converted one into a final so it makes you wonder has he got the game to get to a final sometimes.

“It’s all well and good getting to quarters and semis but to get to a final you need to play well, play at a very high level because by that stage everyone is playing well.

“Potting balls is not enough, you need to making 70/80 breaks and plying some good safeties as well.”

O’Sullivan himself suffered disappointment as the defence of his Coral Welsh Open crown came to an end at the second round stage following defeat to Mark Davis.

The competition is the final leg of this season’s Coral Home Nations Series which has included the new English Open, Northern Ireland and Scottish Open as well as the existing Welsh Open.

Each tournament has featured 128 players in a flat draw including two amateur wild cards from the host nation – with Welsh schoolboy Jackson Page one of those to catch the headlines with his run to the third round last week.

And O’Sullivan believes it has been beneficial for the sport to see some of the younger players going cue to cue with the more established players.

“I think it is good for snooker, I think the Home Nations gives the opportunity for these players because it is kind of a random draw so you are getting a lot of first round matches that could potentially be finals,” he added.

“So, it gives a chance for some players to come through the draw and not meet a top player until the last 16 so that can obviously make the results a little bit unpredictable and I think that is good for the game.

“But even if you look at the quarters, the semis and finals they still had top ranking players in them.”

 The Welsh Open was LIVE on Eurosport 1 and Quest, featuring daily studio analysis from Ronnie O'Sullivan, Jimmy White and Neal Foulds.