Gilbert needs to make the final in Gibraltar on Sunday to climb into the top eight of the one-year rankings, which would give him a spot at the Tour Championship in Llandudno, which runs from March 19 to 24. Otherwise, Stuart Bingham and Kyren Wilson will both be heading for North Wales.

On Saturday, Gilbert beat amateur David Bermudez 4-1, Joe Swail 4-2 and Hamza Akbar 4-2. His next opponent will be Daniel Wells.

Wilson beat Ross Muir 4-1 in the last 16 while Bingham came from 2-0 and 3-2 down to edge out Eden Sharav 4-3, making breaks of 102 and 69 in the last two frames. Both Wilson and Bingham are in the opposite half of the draw to Gilbert.

Defending champion Ryan Day saw off Elliot Slessor 4-3

The other players coming through Saturday’s action to book a last 16 spot were Robert Milkins, Andrew Higginson, Gary Wilson and Tian Pengfei.

The world ranking event finishes on Sunday evening with the winner to earn £25,000.

Source-World Snooker