“That man is a great player. He should be in the top 16 now”
-Steve Davis on playing new professional Alain Robidoux in the fourth round of the 1988 Fidelity Trusts International, a match Davis narrowly won 5-4.

“I was surprised. As it was my first attempt I just went in determined to play well. I knew I could beat some of the players but I did not expect to win, especially at my first attempt.”
-Alain Robidoux on winning the 1988 Canadian Professional Championship.

Alain Robidoux is an eight-time Canadian champion, a third-place finisher in the 1987 World Amateur Championship, a multi-time semi-finalist and finalist in World Ranking events on the professional tour and a member of the winning 1990 World Cup Team. Alain Robidoux, inspired by the success of Cliff Thorburn, began playing snooker at age 12 in St-Jerôme, Quebec under the tutelage of Claude Smith his first coach.

After winning the Canadian Amateur Snooker Championship in 1983, 1985 and 1987 Robidoux was accepted as a non-tournament professional making him the only player to be eligible for both the World Amateur Championship and the World Professional Championship in the same year. Non-tournament status qualified him to begin amassing points on the official rankings even though he could not play in any professional events except the World Championship. By fate, his first-round match in the World Professional Championship with Canadian Frank Jonik was a walk-over and his second-round opponent, South African Robbie Grace had withdrawn. The points awarded Robidoux from advancing two matches moved him up to 102 in the World Rankings; the top 128 in the World Rankings become full-time tour professionals and Robidoux qualified for 1988 professional status.

Alain Robidoux finished third in the 1987 World Amateur Championship losing in the semi-final to Darren Morgan the eventual winner. Following this, Robidoux was active on the world professional tour from 1988 to 2004. He reached the last-64 of three tournaments in his first year: The Fidelity Units Trusts International, Rothmans Grand Prix and Tennents UK Championship. By his third season as a professional his consistently good results: reaching the quarter-finals of the Thai Sky Asian Open, Pearl Assurance British Open, Humo European Open and The Masters, allowed him to rise to number 13 in the World Rankings. He became only the fourth Canadian to break into the top-16 in the World Rankings, a position he held for six seasons with his career-best World Ranking being 9th for the 1997/1998 season.

In 1990 he became a World Champion as a member of the World Cup winning Canadian Team, an honour he shared with 1980 World Champion, Cliff Thorburn, and 1990 British Open Champion, Bob Chaperon.

In his professional career he reached four world-ranking semi-finals including the 1997 World Professional Championship, becoming only the third Canadian to do so after Cliff Thorburn and Kirk Stevens, before losing to the eventual winner Ken Doherty. His only appearance in a professional ranking event final was at the 1996 German Masters. He was beaten 9-7 by seven-time World Champion Ronnie O’Sullivan despite making the tournament-best high break of 145.

In September 1988 at the European Open, Robidoux became only the sixth player to ever record a maximum 147 in official competition. A month later he reached the semi-finals of the Rothmans Grand Prix where his notable tenacity resulted in him winning six consecutive frames from 1-8 down to Alex Higgins before ultimately losing the match 9-7.

He won the Canadian Professional Championship in 1988 on his first attempt besting Jim Wych 8-4 in the final. And after his retirement from the professional tour he won the Canadian Amateur Championship four more times - 2003, 2004, 2006 and 2009 - taking his national total to eight championships. He is also a multi-time Quebec Provincial Champion.

Alain Robidoux was Canada’s leading professional in the early to mid-1990s taking the reins from Cliff Thorburn, Kirk Stevens and Bill Werbeniuk. His consistency, even-temperament and tenacity quickly earned him the respect of his fellow professionals and his outstanding achievements at the amateur and professional levels have established him as one of Canada’s most important and esteemed snooker stars. He was inducted into the Canadian Snooker Hall of Fame in 2023