About Cliff

From the back of a bowling alley
to the top of the world

Victoria, British Columbia

A love of the game

Cliff Thorburn was born in Victoria, BC, in 1948. His love of the game began in the back of a bowling alley, and he left school at sixteen to travel across Canada playing pool and snooker for money, taking whatever work paid for the next stake.

By 1970 he was a resident professional in Toronto. The following year John Spencer played him in a series of exhibitions and recommended him to the professional association, and in 1972 Cliff turned pro. With his reputation growing he set his sights on the UK, where the best in the world competed for the sport’s greatest titles.

A young Cliff Thorburn down on a shot

The Crucible, 1980

Champion of the world

Cliff played his first World Championship in 1973, and he was part of snooker’s new era from the moment the event moved to the Crucible in Sheffield in 1977. That year he reached the final, losing to John Spencer.

In 1980 he went one better. Against the Hurricane, Alex Higgins, in front of millions watching live, he fought back from behind to win 18–16. The man they called The Grinder had made it to the very top, the first world champion generally recognised as coming from outside the United Kingdom.

Cliff Thorburn and Alex Higgins at the 1980 World Championship final

Snooker’s golden age

The perfect game, and three Masters

In 1983 Cliff made history again. In his second-round match against Terry Griffiths he compiled the first maximum 147 break ever made at the World Championship. The players on the neighbouring table stopped to watch, and it remains one of the most famous moments in the sport. He went on to reach the final that year, losing to Steve Davis.

He won the Masters in 1983, 1985 and 1986, becoming the first player to win it three times and the first to retain it. In 1981–82 he became the first player from outside Britain to top the world rankings.

Replay the 147 →

Cliff Thorburn with Steve Davis at the Crucible, 1983

Still at the table

Legends, seniors and coaching

After leaving the main tour in 1996, Cliff kept playing and kept winning. He took the Canadian Amateur title again in 2001, played on the Snooker Legends tour from 2010, and in 2018, aged 70, lifted the inaugural Seniors Masters at the Crucible, raising his arms just as he had after that 147.

Today he passes on what he knows. He has served as national head coach of cue sports for the Canadian Billiards and Snooker Association, and he coaches players of every level in snooker and pool.

Coaching with Cliff →

Cliff Thorburn with the Seniors Masters trophy, 2018

Recognition

  • 1981–82World number oneThe first player from outside Britain to top the rankings
  • 1984Member of the Order of Canada
  • 1995BC Sports Hall of Fame
  • 2001Canada’s Sports Hall of Fame
  • 2014Snooker Hall of Fame

Titles & milestones

Honours

  1. 1971 North American Amateur Champion
  2. 1972 Canadian Amateur Champion
  3. 1974 World MastersBeat John Spencer
  4. 1974 Canadian Open8–6 v Dennis Taylor
  5. 1974 Canadian Amateur Champion
  6. 1975 Canadian Amateur Champion
  7. 1975 Ladbroke InternationalRest of the World team
  8. 1976 Canadian Amateur Champion
  9. 1977 Canadian Amateur Champion
  10. 1977 World Championship runner-upv John Spencer
  11. 1978 Canadian Open17–15 v Tony Meo
  12. 1979 Canadian Open17–16 v Terry Griffiths
  13. 1980 World Champion18–16 v Alex Higgins, the Crucible
  14. 1980 Canadian Open17–10 v Terry Griffiths
  15. 1980 Canadian Professional Champion
  16. 1981 Pot Blackv Jim Wych
  17. 1981 World Mixed DoublesWith Natalie Stelmach
  18. 1982 World Team ClassicCanada, with Bill Werbeniuk and Kirk Stevens
  19. 1983 Maximum 147 at the World ChampionshipThe first in the event’s history, v Terry Griffiths
  20. 1983 The Masters9–7 v Ray Reardon
  21. 1983 Australian Masters7–3 v Bill Werbeniuk
  22. 1983 World Championship runner-upv Steve Davis
  23. 1984 Canadian Professional Champion
  24. 1985 The Masters9–6 v Doug Mountjoy
  25. 1985 Matchroom Trophy12–10 v Jimmy White
  26. 1985 Scottish Masters9–7 v Willie Thorne
  27. 1985 Canadian Professional Champion
  28. 1986 The Masters9–5 v Jimmy White. First player to retain the title
  29. 1986 Scottish Masters9–8 v Alex Higgins
  30. 1986 Canadian Professional Champion
  31. 1987 Canadian Professional Champion
  32. 1989 Second official maximumMatchroom League, v Jimmy White
  33. 1990 World CupCanada, with Alain Robidoux and Bob Chaperon
  34. 2001 Canadian Amateur Champion
  35. 2018 Seniors MastersThe Crucible, aged 70

Books: Cliff Thorburn’s Snooker Skills (Hamlyn, 1987) and the autobiography Playing for Keeps, with Clive Everton (Partridge Press, 1987).