David Gilbert reached Stage Two of Championship League Snooker by winning all three of his round-robin fixtures on Wednesday in Leicester.
The 2021 winner comfortably topped Group 12 at the Mattioli Arena, losing only two frames across the entire day’s play.
Gilbert opened his account with a 3-0 defeat of amateur top-up Paul Deaville where he contributed a high break of 129.
The 44 year-old added runs of 105, 139, and 77 to subsequently overcome Louis Heathcote and then sealed a fine Stage One outing with breaks of 67, 96, and 82 against Duane Jones.
Gilbert had a mediocre 2024/25 campaign during which he managed to reach only two ranking event quarter-finals.
The Angry Farmer has slipped to number 23 in the world, but with lots of star names absent from this tournament, there is an opportunity for Gilbert to launch the new term strongly.
Elsewhere, Lei Peifan moved forward in the competition with a record of two wins and a draw.
The reigning Scottish Open champion beat Ryan Davies 3-1 and Mateusz Baranowski 3-0 to move to within the brink of advancing.
Lei needed only a draw from his last game against Long Zehuang, and he recovered from 2-0 down with breaks of 120 and 54 to get the required point.
Both David Gilbert and Lei Peifan will feature in Stage Two of Championship League Snooker later this month.
Before that, there are still 14 groups from Stage One to be contested, with another couple on Thursday’s schedule in Leicester.
Jak Jones is in Group 10 alongside Ben Mertens, Jonas Luz, and Alfie Davies while Jimmy Robertson fronts Group 23 against Mark Davis, Sam Craigie, and Connor Benzey.
Championship League Snooker represents the opening ranking event of the fledgling 2025/26 snooker season.
The overall winner on July 23rd will take home £33,000 worth of prize money and ranking points, plus a ticket to the lucrative Champion of Champions invitational later this year.
Live coverage is available for Ireland and UK viewers on the Matchroom Multi Sport and Matchroom Pool YouTube channels.
Wednesday’s Results
Group 12
David Gilbert 3-0 Paul Deaville
Duane Jones 3-1 Louis Heathcote
Duane Jones 3-0 Paul Deaville
David Gilbert 3-1 Louis Heathcote
Louis Heathcote 3-1 Paul Deaville
David Gilbert 3-1 Duane Jones
Table
1. David Gilbert – 9 points
2. Duane Jones – 6 points
3. Louis Heathcote – 3 points
4. Paul Deaville – 0 points
Group 19
Lei Peifan 3-1 Ryan Davies
Long Zehuang 3-0 Mateusz Baranowski
Ryan Davies 3-1 Long Zehuang
Lei Peifan 3-0 Mateusz Baranowski
Mateusz Baranowski 3-1 Ryan Davies
Lei Peifan 2-2 Long Zehuang
Table
1. Lei Peifan – 7 points
2. Long Zehuang – 4 points
3. Ryan Davies – 3 points
4. Mateusz Baranowski – 3 points
Featured photo credit: WST
