Born | London, England | 20 March 1959
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Sport country | England |
Professional | 1986–1997, 1998–2001 |
Highest ranking | 44 (1994–1995) |
Best ranking finish | Quarter-final (x1) |
Nigel Gilbert (born 20 March 1959) is an English former professional snooker player, famous for wearing a glove on his bridging hand while playing.
Gilbert turned professional in 1986 at the age of 27, and made his first appearance in the latter stages of a tournament at the 1987 International Open. There, he defeated Ian Black 5–3, Jack McLaughlin 5–4, Murdo MacLeod 5–1 and Wayne Jones 5–4, before losing 0–5 to veteran Australian Eddie Charlton in the last 16.
The following year, Gilbert reached the quarter-final of the 1988 Grand Prix, where he beat Bill Oliver 5–4, Silvino Francisco 5–4, Eddie Charlton 5–0 in a reverse of the previous year's encounter, and Tony Knowles 5–4 before losing 4–5 to Alain Robidoux.
His best performance at the World Championship came in 1990, where he lost in the last 32 to Terry Griffiths 4–10, having at one point led Griffiths 3–2.
Despite poor form in the first half of the 1990s, Gilbert reached a career-high ranking of 44th in 1994; he retained this position for a year, but having not reached the last 16 of a ranking event since the 1991 Dubai Classic, he slipped to 111th at the end of the 1996–97 season and was relegated from the tour. He won back his place after one season, but was unable to rise higher than 119th, and lost his professional status for the final time in 2001, aged 42.
James Warren White is an English professional snooker player who has won four seniors World titles. Nicknamed "The Whirlwind" because of his fluid, swift and attacking style of play, White is the 1980 World Amateur Champion, 2009 Six-red World champion, a record four-time World Seniors Champion, 2019 Seniors 6-Red World Champion and 1984 World Doubles champion with Alex Higgins.
Joe Johnson is an English former professional snooker player and commentator. He won the 1986 World Championship after starting the tournament as a 150–1 outsider, and was runner-up in 1987. In 1987 he reached the final of the English Amateur Championship, where he was defeated 6–13 by Terry Griffiths, and the final of the 1978 World Amateur Championship, which he lost 5–11 to Cliff Wilson. Johnson turned professional in 1979 and later reached the final of the 1983 Professional Players Tournament, where he lost 8–9 to Tony Knowles. In 1986 he defeated Steve Davis 18–12 to win the 1986 World Championship. Following a string of poor results after winning the title, he reached the final again in 1987, this time losing 14–18 to Davis.
Raymond Reardon is a Welsh retired professional snooker player. He turned professional in 1967 aged 35 and dominated the sport in the 1970s, winning the World Snooker Championship six times and more than a dozen other tournaments. Reardon was World Champion in 1970, 1973, 1974, 1975, 1976 and 1978, and runner-up in 1982. He won the inaugural Pot Black tournament in 1969, the 1976 Masters and the 1982 Professional Players Tournament.
Terence Martin Griffiths is a Welsh retired professional snooker player and current snooker coach and pundit. In his second professional tournament, he became world champion when he won the 1979 World Snooker Championship. He was the second qualifier to win the title after Alex Higgins achieved the feat in 1972; only Shaun Murphy has done it since, winning the title in 2005. Griffiths defeated Dennis Taylor by 24 frames to 16 in the final. Nine years later, in 1988, Griffiths reached the final of the competition again. He was tied with Steve Davis at 8–8, but lost the match 11–18.
Pierre "Perrie" Mans is a retired professional snooker player from South Africa, who first won the South African Professional Championship in 1965, and won the event 20 times. Mans won the Benson & Hedges Masters in 1979 and reached the final of the World Championship in 1978.
Clifford Charles Devlin Thorburn is a Canadian retired professional snooker player. Nicknamed "The Grinder" because of his slow, determined style of play, he won the World Snooker Championship in 1980, defeating Alex Higgins 18–16 in the final. He is generally recognised as the sport's first world champion from outside the United Kingdom—since Australian Horace Lindrum's 1952 title is usually disregarded—and he remains the only world champion from the Americas. He was runner-up in two other world championships, losing 21–25 to John Spencer in the 1977 final and 6–18 to Steve Davis in the 1983 final. At the 1983 tournament, Thorburn became the first player to make a maximum break in a World Championship match, achieving the feat in his second-round encounter with Terry Griffiths.
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Clifford Wilson was a Welsh professional snooker player who reached the highest ranking of 16, in 1988-89. He was the 1978 World Amateur Champion and won the 1991 World Seniors Championship. He was a successful junior player, known for his fast attacking snooker and potting ability, and won the British Under-19 Championship in 1951 and 1952. In the early 1950s both Wilson and future six-times World Professional Champion Ray Reardon lived in Tredegar, where they played a succession of money matches that attracted large enthusiastic crowds.
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