David Gilbert won the BetVictor Championship League first-ranking title after beating Mark Allen in the final last Friday. As well as the title, the 40-year-old from Tamworth, nicknamed ‘The Angry Farmer’, walked away with £33,000 and a place in the Cazoo Champion of Champions. This is Gilbert’s first ranking event title since turning pro in 1999 and it certainly won’t be his last.
The championship, which took part in Morningside Arena, Leicester, saw 128 players battle it out in 253 individual games. The tournament started on July 18, and Mark Allen and David Gilbert went head-to-head for the final match on August 13.
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Earlier in the day, in the stage three segment of the tournament, Gilbert lost his first game to Cao Yupeng but beat Ryan Day 3-0. He then beat Ali Carter, the two-time world finalist, 3-1, putting him at the top of the group.
In the final game, Allen started with a clearance of 102 in the opening frame. Gilbert responded quickly, taking the second and third frames. The fourth frame saw Allen try to play it safe, but Gilbert swooped in and took the opportunity to fight.
In the final frame, which has been described as ‘cagey’, Gilbert was in a great position after a break of 57 earlier on. Luckily, his gameplay continued to the same standard, and he claimed the title. Here are the frame scores: 120–0 (102), 5–74 (59), 6–78, 36–82 (57).
When asked how he felt about the win, Gilbert said “It’s fantastic, a great start – last year was quite tough so to open with a win is brilliant.
“Hopefully I can start playing well again and compete in other tournaments too.”
Allen, who walked away with £23,000, made a tweet congratulating Gilbert: "Very well done to Dave Gilbert winning his first tournament… it was only a matter of time!
"Decent start to the season for me but just wasn’t meant to be in the end. Onto the next one for me. British open starts Monday."
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