Dave Gilbert (snooker player, born 1961)

Gilbert was introduced to snooker by his father Les. He was later coached by Ron Shore at the Ilford Snooker Centre. In 1979, he defeated John Parrott to win the Pontins Junior title. In 1983, he beat Terry Whitbread in the final of the London Championship. He took up professional status in July 1985, and was a professional until 1995. In the final round of qualifiers for the 1986 Snooker World Championship he lost 10-5 to Dave Martin. He made his television debut in 1987, in a match in which Gilbert defeated Cliff Wilson on the way to the last-16 of the 1987 International Open, before losing to Stephen Hendry. He finished 1987 ranked 82 in the world, but rose to a world ranking of number 57 in 1988. He reached the last-32 of both the 1988 and 1989 English Professional Championship, losing to Dean Reynolds and Joe Johnson, in those respective years. He beat former World Champion Dennis Taylor to reach the last-32 of the 1989 Asian Open. At the 1989 Snooker World Championship Gilbert lost 10-7 against Doug Mountjoy in the final round of qualifying before the Crucible Theatre section of the tournament. ==Personal life==

He was born in Bethnal Green, London to Les and Brenda. His father Les was a London Transport bus driver. Gilbert worked at Smithfield meat market, and as an engraver at Hatton Garden, prior to becoming a professional snooker player. In 1980, he was involved in a head-on collision on the M6 near Stafford following a snooker tournament in Prestatyn in which his sister Sue was killed and required him to have a steel plate inserted into his left arm, and prevented him from being able again to straighten that arm from the elbow. == Performance and rankings timeline ==

Non-ranking finals: 1 Amateur finals: 2 (1 title) == References ==