Cliff Thorburn

Thorburn first went to England to play snooker professionally in the early 70s. He had met John Spencer in Canada, who had advised him to go to the UK to improve his game. He was soon considered a contender for tournaments, and finished runner-up in the world championship in 1977.

Cliff Thorburn met Alex Higgins in the final of the 1980 World Championship. He won the match 18–16 to take the championship,[2] and rose to number two in the world rankings. The BBC's coverage of the final had been interrupted by the broadcast of live footage of the SAS storming the Iranian Embassy. The following season, Thorburn reached number one in the world rankings.

In 1983, Thorburn was made a Member of the Order of Canada. That same year, he became the first player to make a maximum break at the World Championship. He compiled the break in the fourth frame of his second round match against Terry Griffiths (a match he went on to win 13–12). While he was completing the break, play stopped on the tournament's second table because his friend and fellow Canadian Bill Werbeniuk wanted to watch. He subsequently went on to reach the final, but lost to then world number 1 Steve Davis. His wife had a miscarriage during his semi-final, but Thorburn refused to blame this for his loss, instead saying that he was fatigued after his three back-to-back final-frame victories: a 13–12 win over Terry Griffiths in the second round; another 13–12 win over Kirk Stevens in the quarter finals; and a gruelling 16–15 victory (from 13–15 behind) in his semi-final against Tony Knowles, which finished at 2:30am and left him physically exhausted before the final which commenced later that same day. He stated that, after finishing the semi-final in the early hours of the morning, he simply had nothing left for the final less than thirteen hours later against the in-form Steve Davis, who eventually defeated him 18–6, with a session to spare.

Thorburn was a three-time champion of The Masters, the most prestigious non-ranking event on the snooker calendar for many years, during its tenure at the Wembley Conference Centre near London, England. He defeated Ray Reardon 9–7 in the 1983 final, Doug Mountjoy 9–6 in 1985, and Jimmy White 9–5 in 1986. He became the first player ever to retain the Masters title.

He enjoyed a resurgence in form during the 1984–85 season. He made the final of the Grand Prix, where he lost to Dennis Taylor 2–10. In the semi-final, Thorburn had unexpectedly beaten tournament favourite Steve Davis 9–7. He also made the final of the Classic in January 1985, where he met Willie Thorne in the final, with Thorne winning 13–8. Thorburn was again runner-up in the 1986 Classic, this time losing to Jimmy White in the final 12–13. Thorburn looked certain to win the title but White got a snooker in the deciding frame on the final pink and potted pink and black to win the title.

Thorburn enjoyed success in the 1985 and 1986 Scottish Masters, an invitational event which opened the snooker season. He defeated Willie Thorne 9–7 in the 1985 final, and Alex Higgins 9–8 the following year. He won the opening ranking event in the 1985–86 snooker calendar, the Matchroom Trophy, where he beat Jimmy White in the final 12–10, having trailed 0–7 and 4–8. He was then runner-up in the same event the following two seasons.

Thorburn last qualified for the World Championship in 1994, where he faced Nigel Bond in the first round. Thorburn led by 9–2 but eventually lost 9–10. In 2001, he was inducted into Canada's Sports Hall of Fame.[1] The same year he won the pro-am Canadian Amateur Championship (snooker); he had previously won the tournament in 1974, 1975, 1976, and 1977.[3]

During the 2006 World Championship, Thorburn flew to Sheffield to unveil a life-size painting of the first televised maximum break that he made at the tournament in 1983. Painted by the artist Michael Myers, the work is on display at the Macdonald St. Paul's Hotel in Sheffield.[4] In 2010, Thorburn returned to the UK to compete on the Snooker Legends Tour where he faced Alex Higgins, Jimmy White and John Parrott.

His manager Darryl McKerrow was killed in a hunting accident during the mid-1980s.[5]

Thorburn was fined £10,000 and banned for two ranking tournaments in 1988 after failing a drug test for cocaine.[6]

He is the father of two children, Jamie and Andrew. Thorburn won around C$2.5 million in prize money during his 25-year career but also received a considerable income from sources including billiards equipment endorsements, exhibition games, a snooker instruction book and an autobiography, Playing for Keeps, published in 1987.[7]