Cliff 'The Grinder' Thorburn
Town / Country: Victoria, Canada
DoB: 16 January 1948
Club:
High Break: 147
Ranking: 1 (1981/2)
Biography:
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
Achievements:
World Championship - 1980
World Championship runner up - 1977, 1983
Benson & Hedges Masters champion - 1983, 1985, 1986
Scottish Masters Champion - 1985,1986
Goya Matchroom Trophy champion - 1985
Canadian Open champion - 1974, 1978, 1979, 1980
Canadian Professional Champion - 1984, 1985, 1986, 1987
North American Champion - 1971, 1972
Pot Black Champion - 1981
Maximum Break - 1983 Embassy World Professional Championship
