David Gilbert became the first player through to the quarter-finals of the 2024 World Snooker Championship on Friday in Sheffield.
The 42 year-old, a Crucible semi-finalist in 2019, thrashed an out-of-sorts Robert Milkins with a resounding 13-4 victory.
The early exchanges were quite tight, but frustration with his performance ultimately got the better of Milkins during the second session.
The 16th seed, who at one point threw his cue on the floor in disgust, lost the last seven frames to bow out in disappointing fashion.
Gilbert, though, produced a terrific standard at times – including a period of no-miss snooker towards the back end of the middle session when he compiled successive breaks of 67, 84, 136, and 123.
“I’m over the moon, 13-4 against anyone is a great result. Into the quarters and feeling good,” David Gilbert told the World Snooker Tour.
“I’ve done all that myself, so I’m not going to criticise Rob for anything. He’s a good guy, but I did start to get suckered into knowing he was struggling bad.”
“He was showing a lot of emotion. This morning’s session, I had to take myself to the toilet and tell myself to just focus a bit better.
“I hit the zone, I had a bit of a purple patch at the end of the morning session. It feels fantastic when the white’s doing what you want it to do.
“You’re kind of not thinking, like you’re at peace with yourself kind of thing. It’s a nice feeling.
“It’s easy to go the other way. You just have to keep telling yourself to get forward and try it fresh every time you get to the table.
“Sometimes, I just don’t want to play. I just don’t enjoy playing. If that’s the case, I’m not going to do very good.
“But I put a hard month (of preparation) into this, and I’m glad it’s paying off.
“I’m improving with every match. I played nicely at the qualis. It was a bit of grind in the second game against [Xiao] Guodong, but I battled well.
“For me, it’s nice to be battling and winning the scrappy frames as much as the good stuff. They’re the important ones here.”
In the quarter-finals, David Gilbert will play the winner of the intriguing match between long-term rivals Shaun Murphy and Stephen Maguire.
Judd Trump, meanwhile, joined Gilbert in the next round after completing a straightforward 13-7 win over Tom Ford on Saturday morning.
Among the second-round matches to get going elsewhere on day eight is the blockbuster battle between Mark Allen and John Higgins.
2024 World Snooker Championship Draw
Round 1 (bo19)
Luca Brecel (1) 9-10 David Gilbert
Robert Milkins (16) 10-9 Pang Junxu
Ali Carter (9) 7-10 Stephen Maguire
Shaun Murphy (8) 10-5 Lyu Haotian
Mark Selby (5) 6-10 Joe O’Connor
Kyren Wilson (12) 10-1 Dominic Dale
John Higgins (13) 10-6 Jamie Jones
Mark Allen (4) 10-6 Robbie Williams
Judd Trump (3) 10-5 Hossein Vafaei
Tom Ford (14) 10-6 Ricky Walden
Zhang Anda (11) 4-10 Jak Jones
Mark Williams (6) 9-10 Si Jiahui
Ding Junhui (7) 9-10 Jack Lisowski
Gary Wilson (10) 5-10 Stuart Bingham
Barry Hawkins (15) 8-10 Ryan Day
Ronnie O’Sullivan (2) 10-1 Jackson Page
Round 2 (bo25)
David Gilbert 13-4 Robert Milkins (16)
Stephen Maguire 13-9 Shaun Murphy (8)
Joe O’Connor 6-13 Kyren Wilson (12)
John Higgins (13) 13-12 Mark Allen (4)
Judd Trump (3) 13-7 Tom Ford (14)
Jak Jones 13-9 Si Jiahui
Jack Lisowski 11-13 Stuart Bingham
Ryan Day 7-13 Ronnie O’Sullivan (2)
Quarter-Finals (bo25)
David Gilbert 13-8 Stephen Maguire
Kyren Wilson (12) 13-8 John Higgins (13)
Judd Trump (3) 9-13 Jak Jones
Stuart Bingham 13-10 Ronnie O’Sullivan (2)
Semi-Finals (bo33)
David Gilbert 11-17 Kyren Wilson (12)
Jak Jones 17-12 Stuart Bingham
Final (bo35)
Kyren Wilson (12) 18-14 Jak Jones
Click here for the latest live scores and session times.
Featured photo credit: WST
Milkins has made two centuries in 10 Crucible appearances. They came in a last 16 defeat to Ricky Walden in 2013.