David Gilbert

Bio

David Gilbert is a two-time World Championship semi-finalist who captured his first ranking event title after 19 years as a professional by defeating Mark Allen 3-1 to win the Championship League in August 2021.

Having first qualified for the World Snooker Tour in 2002, Gilbert has been a relatively late bloomer, reaching his first ranking event quarter-final at the 2015 International Championship, where he would go on to contest the final, losing 9-5 to John Higgins.

At the World Championship in 2019 Gilbert defeated Joe Perry, Mark Williams and Kyren Wilson to reach the semi-finals, narrowly losing out in dramatic fashion 17-16 to John Higgins.

Five years later, Gilbert would repeat this run to the one-table setup as  qualifier with victories over defending Luca Brecel, Robert Milkins and Stephen Maguire before eventual champion Kyren Wilson beat him 17-11 in the last four.

He has reached five ranking event finals and broke into the world’s top 10 for the first time in November 2019 following the most consistent spell of his professional career to date.

In 2017 he was involved in the longest frame in snooker history, losing out to Fergal O’Brien 10-9 at the last 48 of the World Championship following a 123 minutes and 41 seconds decider.

Gilbert has twice made a competitive 147 break, most notably his second at the Championship League in January 2019 when he made the 147^th maximum in snooker history.

Off-table

Based in Tamworth, Gilbert is married to wife Abigail with whom he has one daughter. During his early career he worked on his father’s potato farm, leading him to be dubbed ‘The Angry Farmer’

Career Honours

WST Ranking Event Titles (1)

• 2021/22: Championship League