David Gilbert, who was struggling for motivation to even play snooker a few weeks ago, is into the semi-finals of the Cazoo World Championship for the second time after a 13-8 victory over Stephen Maguire.
Having built a 7-1 lead in the opening session on Tuesday, Gilbert was able to nurse his advantage through to the finish line and can now look forward to a huge occasion on Thursday, Friday and Saturday when he faces John Higgins or Kyren Wilson over 33 frames.
Gilbert's previous appearance in the last four at the Crucible came in 2019 when he battled Higgins all the way before an agonising 17-16 defeat. This time the 42-year-old will hope to go further and, inspired by a new fitness and practice regime arranged by fellow player Andy Lee, clearly believes he can go all the way.
"Five weeks I go I couldn't even be bothered to play in the qualifiers," admitted world number 31 Gilbert, who knocked out Luca Brecel and Robert Milkins in the first two rounds. "This would have seemed impossible so it has been an incredible turn around and I feel it's a massive achievement. I am more confident than ever, for whatever reason, I truly believe in myself. I have proved to myself that I can still play.
"I miss being a top 16 player. I have had times in my career where I have pressed the self destruct button. But the motivation is back now. If I am sitting here on Monday night with the trophy, no one could be more proud.
"I would love to play John Higgins again in the semis. He's a class act. We had a fantastic game here five years ago and I have thought about it many times. I never thought I would get another chance to walk out there in the one table set up. But I also admire Kyren and the way he turns up at tournaments to win, if I had his belief then I might have won ten titles."
Tamworth's Gilbert is into the eighth ranking event semi-final of his career and is chasing his second title, the only other coming at the 2021 Championship League. With Jak Jones already into the last four, this is the first time since 2016 that two qualifiers have reached the semi-finals, and Stuart Bingham could make it three if he beats Ronnie O'Sullivan.
Having led 10-6 overnight, Gilbert had a chance to snatch the opening frame today from 56-0 behind but missed a tough pot on the penultimate red with the rest on 33, and Glasgow's Maguire took advantage to close the gap. Gilbert dominated frame 18 before Maguire's 64 in the 19th made it 11-8. Three scoring visits helped Gilbert to win frame 20 to go four up with five to play. After the interval, the Englishman took control of frame 21 with runs of 19 and 20, and after he potted the last red to go 31 points ahead, the handshake soon followed.
Maguire, who missed out on a third semi-final having reached that stage in 2007 and 2012, said: "I felt I just handed it to him, which I hate doing. I don't know what happened in the first session and it was a long way back from there. I lost all the close frames. I don't feel I played any quality snooker, I just battled through. Good luck to Dave, he's a nice kid and we go back a long way. He'll have to improve. He was there for taking last night and I was disappointed to finish 10-6 because it could have been 9-7."
On the other table, 2015 Crucible king Stuart Bingham set up a grandstand finish in his quarter-final with seven-time World Champion Ronnie O’Sullivan, taking the last two frames to end level at 8-8.
There has been little to choose between the pair thus far and they came into this afternoon’s session locked together at 4-4. The opening frame went the way of Bingham, who fired in a break of 108 to lead 5-4.
O’Sullivan restored parity in the tenth, before two glaring errors from Bingham in the 11th. The Basildon cueman spurned a routine red on 60 and O’Sullivan edged back into the frame with a run of 40. Bingham then missed a black off the spot with the balls at his mercy and O’Sullivan cleared the colours to lead 6-5.
A 45-minute frame then went the way of Bingham, who made it 6-6. However, the Rocket responded with breaks of 79 and 84 to claim the next two and go 8-6 up.
With the match reaching a dangerous juncture for Bingham, he summoned two brilliant breaks just when he needed them. Contributions of 125 and 92 gave him the last two of the session to end 8-8.
They return at 7pm to play the best of 25 encounter to a conclusion.