David Gilbert reaches European Masters quarter-finals after easing past Pang Junxu
- Sean Fisher
- 25 February 2022
Gilbert says he was "cruising" during his 5-3 victory over China's Pang Junxu.
After enduring a tough run of results in the lead up to the tournament, including losses during qualifying for the BetVictor Welsh Open and Nirvana Turkish Masters, David Gilbert is starting to hit form.
The 40-year-old raced to a 2-0 lead before Pang levelled the scores at 2-2.
However, the Englishman, who recently won the 2021/22 Championship League, again won successive frames to take a 4-2 lead.
Pang won the following frame to momentarily stall Gilbert's win, but a break of 69 in the eighth frame sealed a 5-3 victory.
In the last eight, Gilbert will face another Chinese player in the shape of 21-year-old Fan Zhengyi, who reached the quarter-finals following a 5-3 win of his own against compatriot Yan Bingtao.
David Gilbert has beaten Pang Junxu 5-3 to make the quarter finals of the @BetVictor European Masters #BVEuroSeries pic.twitter.com/KsZG4CxFZ2
ā World Snooker Tour (@WeAreWST) February 24, 2022
Following the match, Gilbert was delighted with his performance:
"I played well, that was the best I have felt in a long time.
"I scored well and that's what the game is all about. I was 2-0 up and cruising then he potted a couple of absolute worldies and fought back to 2-2. But I finished the match off well."
Elsewhere in the tournament, Tom Ford booked his spot in the quarter-finals against Ronnie O'Sullivan after beating Fraser Patrick 5-3.
Ronnie O'Sullivan - pure class š@BetVictor #BVEuroSeries pic.twitter.com/zSgGHBlZJ0
ā World Snooker Tour (@WeAreWST) February 25, 2022
But the 46-year-old icon will be tough to beat after he fired in two centuries and produced a mesmerising positional shot during a 5-2 victory over Ashley Hugill.
