Nigel Gilbert (born 20 March 1959) is an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Culture, language and peoples * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England * ''English'', an Amish ter ...

former professional

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

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 {{Infobox football biography , name = Murdo MacLeod , image = , fullname = Murdo Davidson MacLeod , height = 1.78 m , birth_date = {{Birth date and age, 1958, 9, 24, df=y , birth_place = Glasgow, Sc ...

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

Eddie Charlton Edward Francis Charlton (31 October 1929 – 7 November 2004) was an Australian professional snooker and billiards player. He remains the only player to have been world championship runner-up in both snooker and billiards without winning e ...

in the last 16. The following year, Gilbert reached the quarter-final of the 1988 Grand Prix, where he beat Bill Oliver 5–4,

Silvino Francisco Silvino Francisco (3 May 1946 – 14 December 2024) was a South African professional snooker player who won the 1985 British Open. Snooker career Francisco came from a snooker-playing family. His brother Manuel and nephew Peter both played at ...

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 reached the final of the 1996 German Open, which he lost 7–9 to Ronnie O'Sullivan. Career R ...

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

Terry Griffiths Terence Martin Griffiths (16October 19471December 2024) was a Welsh professional snooker player, coach and pundit. After winning several amateur titles, including the Welsh Amateur Championship (snooker), Welsh Amateur Championship in 1975 an ...

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. He was known for wearing a glove on his bridging hand while playing.

References

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