On an evening when there was so much else to take the shine off his win, he cared not a crumb as he enjoyed his own gold medal moment.
While the London 2012 Olympic Games drew to a close and news of the SWSA's announcement that they will not host anymore professional tournaments after UKPTC4 filtered through the snooker world, Gould was making news of his own.A 4-3 victory against Stephen Maguire finally landed him a win in a PTC final at the fourth attempt, as he achieved what he's been good enough to do for a long time.
Gould has generally excelled during the PTCs since their launch in 2010 because he's the kind of professional who applies himself well to every tournament and is keen as mustard when it comes to competing.
Although he's enjoyed long spells of consistency in these tournaments, disappointment has also come all too often. Before this weekend he'd lost two PTC finals on a decider to Dominic Dale and Tom Ford, and also suffered defeat in the Grand Finals final to Shaun Murphy in 2011.
This shows how agonisingly close he's come to winning a ranking trophy over the past two years.
It was nearly another cruel end to a final for Martin tonight. After leading 3-2, Maguire enjoyed a monstrous fluked pot red from the white being placed behind the brown in each of the last two frames, but could only convert one into a frame win.
Gould's win is definitely deserved this weekend. As well as beating Maguire, he's beaten Mark Allen and Neil Robertson, so no-one can accuse him of taking the easy road to victory.
Martin's win has gone down well. His attacking style of play and sensational long-potting ability make him very popular with the fans. His struggle to win a trophy has also won him plenty of friends but, at last, his vast ability has reaped it rewards.
Gould has always been a pure confidence player. He's been in the top 16 for a while and has a title to go with it too now. This could be the making of the man.
Well played Martin.
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