Player Profile: Cliff Thorburn

Cliff Thorburn might have been the boy that Robert Preston referred to in the movie The Music Man. Except the 15 year old boy who hung out in Dave Smith's pool hall in Victoria wasn't wasting his time, he was learning the game of snooker. He had shown athletic ability in soccer, lacrosse and baseball, where he pitched 2 no hitters in leading his team to a B.C. Little League title. However this new passion for snooker would eventually see him become one of the greatest snooker players in the world.

Leaving school at an early age, he began an odyssey across North America, occasionally working at a variety of jobs which allowed him to continually improve his game. By the age of 22 Thorburn was the North American Snooker Champion. He then set his sights on the United Kingdom, home of all major world snooker championships, knowing that every game from now on would be a road game. Beginning in 1973, a year in which Cliff scored 3 perfect 147 games in 8 days, he took on all of the top players in the world while polishing his already impressive skills. A short four years later, he reached the final of the Embassy World Championship, finishing second to British star John Spencer. However the best of Cliff Thorburn was still to come.

At the Embassy World Championship of 1980, Cliff worked his way through the initial rounds to reach the final, where his opponent was Alex Higgins. He was the man who had nicknamed Thorburn "The Grinder" for his deliberate, defensive style of play. In truth, Thorburn would be recognized as the best defensive player the world had ever seen. Higgins was a player not particularly liked by Thorburn. For this reason there might have been extra incentive as Cliff Thorburn won the day, beating Higgins 18-16 in front of a full house and a huge television audience, becoming the first non-British player to win the World Championship. In 1981 Thorburn won the World Mixed Championship with Natalie Stelmach of Sudbury, and in 1982 the World Team Championship with fellow Canadians Bill Werbeniuk and Kirk Stevens. At the World Championship of 1983 Thorburn was again runner up but in the process he became the first player in history to record a perfect game, 147 points, in world championship competition.

The classy Canadian was nicknamed "the Rhett Butler of the green baize" for his elegant style and hair brush moustache. For a period of ten years Cliff accumulated many more major titles, including 2 World Masters, while maintaining his ranking as one of the top ten snooker players in the world.

Cliff Thorburn remains hugely popular with snooker fans around the world. He is now back in Canada promoting and generating interest in the game here. Cliff was named to the Order of Canada in 1983, to the Canadian Snooker Hall of Fame in 1990 and to the B.C. Sports Hall of Fame. Today he joins Georges Chenier as the only Honoured Members from the sport of snooker in Canada's Sports Hall of Fame.

For more information on Cliff's appearance schedule and extraordinary career, visit his offical site at www.cliffthorburn.com.

This biography cannot be reproduced without the express consent of the Canadian Billiards and Snooker Association (CBSA). It may, however, be reproduced providing express acknowledgement and thanks to the Canadian Billiards and Snooker Association (CBSA) with mention of its website at www.cbsa.ca.