Nigel Gilbert (born 20 March 1959) is a

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

former professional

snooker Snooker (pronounced , ) is a cue sports, cue sport played on a Billiard table#Snooker and English billiards tables, rectangular table covered with a green cloth called baize, with six Billiard table#Pockets 2, pockets, one at each corner and o ...

player, famous for wearing a glove on his bridging hand while playing.

Career

Gilbert turned professional in 1986 at the age of 27, and made his first appearance in the latter stages of a tournament at the 1987 International Open. There, he defeated Ian Black 5–3,

Jack McLaughlin Jack McLaughlin (born 29 January 1959) is a Northern Irish former professional snooker and billiards player from Lurgan. McLaughlin is most notable for winning the 1988 Irish Professional Championship. Career McLaughlin turned professional in ...

5–4,

Murdo MacLeod Murdo Davidson MacLeod (born 24 September 1958 in Glasgow) is a Scottish former professional football player and manager. MacLeod, who played as a midfielder, made 20 appearances for Scotland and played in the 1990 World Cup Finals. He had a ...

5–1 and Wayne Jones 5–4, before losing 0–5 to veteran Australian

Eddie Charlton Edward Francis Charlton, (31 October 1929 – 8 November 2004) was an Australian professional snooker and English billiards player. He remains the only player to have been world championship runner-up in both snooker and billiards without winn ...

in the last 16. The following year, Gilbert reached the quarter-final of the 1988 Grand Prix, where he beat

Bill Oliver Bill Oliver may refer to: *Bill Oliver (American football) (born 1939), American football player and coach * Bill Oliver (politician), Canadian politician *Bill Oliver (snooker player) Bill Oliver (born 3 December 1948) is an English former pro ...

5–4,

Silvino Francisco Silvino Francisco (born 3 May 1946) is a South African former professional snooker player, most notable for winning the 1985 British Open. Snooker career Francisco comes from a snooker-playing family. His brother Manuel and nephew Peter both ...

5–4, Eddie Charlton 5–0 in a reverse of the previous year's encounter, and Tony Knowles 5–4 before losing 4–5 to

Alain Robidoux Alain Robidoux (born July 25, 1960) is a Canadian retired professional snooker player. Robidoux played on the sport's main tour from 1987 to 2004 and continues to play in events in Canada. Career He was born in Saint-Jérôme, Quebec and joined ...

. His best performance at the World Championship came in 1990, where he lost in the last 32 to

Terry Griffiths Terence Martin Griffiths (born 16 October 1947) is a Welsh retired professional snooker player and current snooker coach and pundit. In his second professional tournament, he became world champion when he won the 1979 World Snooker Champion ...

4–10, having at one point led Griffiths 3–2. Despite poor form in the first half of the 1990s, Gilbert reached a career-high ranking of 44th in 1994; he retained this position for a year, but having not reached the last 16 of a ranking event since the 1991 Dubai Classic, he slipped to 111th at the end of the 1996–97 season and was relegated from the tour. He won back his place after one season, but was unable to rise higher than 119th, and lost his professional status for the final time in 2001, aged 42.

References

English snooker players 1959 births Living people Snooker players from London {{England-snooker-bio-stub