World Snooker Championship: David Gilbert expresses ‘massive relief’ after Stephen Maguire’s concession - 'Fantastic'

ByAndrew Wright

Updated 01/05/2024 at 20:05 GMT

David Gilbert admitted it was a "massive relief" when Stephen Maguire opted to concede their quarter-final match at the World Championship rather than try and get the snooker the Scotsman required to keep his hopes alive. Gilbert began the day 10-6 ahead and saw his advantage trimmed to three frames before eventually getting over the line to move into the semi-finals.

David Gilbert admitted it was a “massive relief” when Stephen Maguire conceded the frame to give him a 13-8 victory in their quarter-final match at the 2024 World Snooker Championship.

The Scotsman, having recovered from 8-1 and 9-2 down to make a contest of it, only needed one snooker but opted to shake hands rather than battle on.

It drew some raised eyebrows, but Gilbert was understandably ecstatic he didn’t become embroiled in a safety exchange.

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“It was fantastic!” the Englishman said in his post-match press conference. “I’ll buy Stephen a pint if I ever bump into him.”

The result means Gilbert is now down to the one-table set-up at the Crucible for the second time in his career, having also reached the semi-finals in 2020.

After winning eight of the first nine frames, it looked like he might seal his progress with a session to spare, but Maguire launched a comeback to pull within three at 11-8 down.

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Gilbert dug deep to hang on, though, reeling off two frames in a row to extinguish Maguire’s challenge.

Asked if he was feeling the nerves at the end, he told Eurosport: “No, not particularly. I was enjoying the challenge. Stephen came back at me and I knew that was going to happen, you’d be silly to think you’re going to go 13-4 or 13-2.

“The only thing I was struggling with really was the table. It was really heavy and hard work to play on and it probably looked like we were struggling - certainly me - but I wasn’t, I was perfectly fine.

“[I got a] massive buzz when I potted the last red and when Stephen just turned round and shook my hand, [it was a] massive relief.”

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Maguire, who was aiming to reach his third semi-final at the Crucible and first since 2012, was quizzed about the end of the match and his decision not to carry on.

“Did you see where I landed?” he replied in his press conference. “It was just happening all through the match.

“I had to get the spider, I’m never going to snooker him from that shot. There was no point, it was just wasting time really.”

‘Always things to think about’ – Maguire drops cryptic hint over future after Crucible exit

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