Gould came through qualifying for the 2008 UK Championship, beating Supoj Saenla 9–1, Tom Ford 9–6, and in the final qualifying round overturned a 2–5 deficit to overcome Dominic Dale 9–6. In the first round Gould faced eventual champion Shaun Murphy, Murphy did go 7–3 ahead before Gould rattled off four frames in a row to bring the score back to 7–7, but Murphy held on to seal a 9–7 victory. Gould then also reached the last 16 of a ranking event for the first time, at the 2009 Welsh Open, beating Stephen Hendry 5–3 in the last 32. Solid qualifying results in the remainder of the season helped him into the top 48 in the world rankings for 2009–10 season meaning Gould had only to win two matches to qualify for events. In the World Championship qualifying, Gould defeated Rodney Goggins 10–7, David Gilbert 10–8 and former top 16 player Matthew Stevens 10–4 to qualify for the World Championship, where he lost in the first round. Despite dismal results during the first tournaments of 2009–10 season, he again returned to the Crucible the following year and defeated Marco Fu 10–9 in the first round. In the second round he spectacularly led Neil Robertson 6–0, 11–5 and 12–10, playing arguably his best snooker ever, before ultimately losing 12–13. Robertson went on to win the championship that year.