| Generally recognised
as the only overseas player to win the world championship, Cliff
Thorburn was a dour opponent and, particularly in the early
1980s was a major contender in every tournament he entered.
He will always be remembered for his 1973 maximum at the Crucible.
Cliff came from Victoria in British Colombia, Canada, a country
which had previously not been noted for its snooker players.
After trying his hand at various jobs, he found he could earn
more money hustling in the pool halls. He did however win
a minor snooker championship at the age of 16 and became Canada’s
leading player by 1971 although he had never played any of
the top British stars. Several of these players toured Canada
in 1971 and played against Cliff. He did well enough to convince
himself he had a future in the game and after winning the
Canadian and North American titles he turned professional
and came to England for the 1973 world championships where
he beat Dennis Taylor before losing in the second round to
Rex Williams by the odd frame.
Little success came in those early years as a professional
other than winning the Canadian Open in 1974 and reaching
the Norwich Union semi-final. This all changed in 1977 when
he went all the way to the final of the first world championship
to be held at the Crucible eventually losing 21-25 to John
Spencer. The following season he reached the Masters final
at Wembley. Although he won the Canadian Open three times
in a row from 1978 to 1980, he did not get beyond the quarter-finals
of any other event.
The 1980 Embassy was to prove to be his finest hour. A tough
opener against Doug Mountjoy was followed by fairly easy wins
against Jim Wych and David Taylor taking him into the final
againt Alex Higgins. This was a classic confrontation; the
brash, spectacular Irishman against the solid, methodical
Canadian. Cliff came out on top 18 -16. He just wore Alex
down and earned himself the nickname of ‘The Grinder’.
This result took Cliff to number two in the rankings and
he was number one the following season. He won the 1981 Pot
Black and was runner-up in the 1982 Scottish Masters, winning
the English version at Wembley the following year. A couple
of months later was in the world final again. This time Steve
Davis, then at his peak, beat him 18-6. He made hard work
of it with three of his wins coming in the deciding frame.
The tournament will be remembered however for Cliffs 147 against
Terry Griffiths, the first maximum in the world championships.
He only won one other ranking event, the 1985 Goya Matchroom
Trophy, but he won the Masters and the Scottish Masters in
both 1985 and 1986 but his only other victories came in the
Canadian Professional championship with he won four years
in a row from 1984 to 1987.
In 1988/89 he was suspended for two matches for drug offences
and later admitted to having a problem in this respect. He
slipped out of the top 32 and although he was ranked in the
forties and fifties for a few seasons could not come back
and he quit the circuit at the end of the 1995/6 season.
He was a regular captain of the Canadian world cup team and,
with his regular partners of Bill Werbeniuk and Kirk Stevens,
took the trophy in 1982. He helped Canada win the trophy again
in 1990 this time with Alain Robidoux and Bob Chaperon and
even though he had quit the circuit by then, he did take part
again when the event was revived in 1996.
He is still a good player and in 2000 was runner up to Willie
Thorne, still a regular tour player, in the first of what
may turn out to be a regular series of seniors events.
Cliff led the way for a number of very good Canadian players
to join the circuit and reach the top flight but since he
has gone there has been no sign of any new talent from country.
Maybe this is because they, like Cliff, prefer the lucrative
North American pool circuit.
Cliff was made a Member of the Order of Canada in 1988
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