Phil Haigh
Published December 1, 2025 10:22am
Updated December 1, 2025 10:23am
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There was not much sympathy for Dave Gilbert from Jimmy White (Picture: Getty Images)
Jimmy White found himself frustrated with Dave Gilbert’s reaction to defeat at the UK Championship after the Angry Farmer admitted he hadn’t put in enough practice before the tournament.
Gilbert came through qualifying and took on three-time world champion Mark Williams in the opening round in York on Sunday night.
The Welshman won 6-4, although there was some very good stuff from Gilbert in there as he made the only two centuries of the match.
After defeat, the Englishman said he only started practicing for the event less than two weeks ago after encouragement from his friend and coach Andy Lee.
If preparation had been better, he feels the result may well have been different.
‘I was lucky to be here. Thanks to Andy for getting me to play 10-12 days ago,’ Gilbert told TNT Sports. ‘I bodged through the qualifiers and I’ve got nothing to feel bad about, tried my best out there and I think if I could hit a couple of shots again, a bit more practice, I think I’d have won that match.
‘I played alright in spells but against proper players you can’t make them silly little mistakes. Just bad aim and trusting myself a bit. But I felt good out there. Well done Mark.’
Dave Gilbert came into the UK Championship ranked 24 in the world (Picture: Getty Images)
The Whirlwind did not have much sympathy for the Angry Farmer, frustrated to hear that a player who is capable of doing great things on the table hasn’t been putting the work in.
‘Well why didn’t he practice then? I don’t get that,’ said White. ‘He’s a fantastic player, won a ranking tournament, been on the circuit many, many years, broke through when he got to the semi-final against [John] Higgins in the [2019] World Championship. I don’t know.
‘He’s got such a talent, but that frustrates me to hear someone say that someone else had to get them to practice.
‘Maybe he doesn’t want to go through what you have to go through to win? You have to ask yourself the question.
‘He should have just said he got beat and not put it down to not practicing.’
Mark Williams is into the last 16 in York (Picture: Getty Images)
Gilbert admitted the same issue after coming through qualifying, where he beat Iulian Boiko and Daniel Wells.
Asked if something had clicked after beating Wells and reaching the Barbican, Gilbert told WST: ‘No not at all. I hardly play now.
‘I’ve hardly played since Saudi which was months ago so Andy tried to get me to practice for a week, so literally I’ve hit a few balls for a week, turned up here and managed to get through anyway. I’m a bit of a numpty now, so we’ll see what happens.’
On why he struggles to put the hours in now, the 44-year-old said: ‘It’s a bit of everything. I let myself get so far away from playing snooker and a good routine, I just struggle to play sometimes, that’s it.
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‘I just find it so hard to concentrate nowadays. I don’t know if it’s my age or just because I’ve been doing different things away from snooker. I don’t know what it is.
‘I’m like a gnat. I’m alright for a frame and a half but then I’m just missing in my own brain. That’s the difficult thing for me.’
Williams goes on to play Pang Junxu in the last 16 after the 25-year-old beat his Chinese compatriot Xiao Guodong 6-2 on Sunday night.
Despite two centuries, Xiao became the first seeded player to lose in York this year after seven straight wins for the top 16 stars.
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