"If a computer had been programmed to find out what Canadian snooker needed, it would have produced Cliff Thorburn.""
- Jack Karnehm

“I don’t think I came down to earth until after the Canadian Open in August. I’m not staying I spent all my time re-living the Embassy final, but you could say I woke up with a bigger smile every morning”
-Cliff Thorburn


Cliff Thorburn is recognized as Canada’s greatest snooker champion and a driving force for bringing snooker from obscurity into the spotlight in Canada. Thorburn earned the nickname “the grinder” for his legendary defensive, methodical and determined playing style. His long and illustrious career spans six decades.

Born in Victoria, British Columbia, Thorburn travelled across Canada in his early years playing money matches. In 1968, he entered his first tournament and won the Toronto City Championship. In 1970, he made his first maximum break of 147. A year later he won the North American Amateur Snooker Championship making six century breaks along the way, equaling the existing record jointly held by legends George Chenier and Joe Davis for the most century breaks in a single tournament.

After a series of exhibition matches against World Champion John Spencer in 1971, Thorburn was recommended to the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association by Spencer and he turned professional in 1972; subsequently playing on the World Professional Tour from 1972 to 1996.

The 1973 World Professional Championship marked his major tournament debut where he defeated Dennis Taylor in the first round but lost to Rex Williams in the second round. His first major victory came when he won the 1974 Canadian Open, an international tournament, held at the Canadian National Exhibition defeating Dennis Taylor in the final.

In 1977 he became the first Canadian to reach the final of the World Professional Championship; this was the first time the tournament was held in the legendary Crucible Theatre in Sheffield. He lost the final to John Spencer 25-21 but three years later 14.5 million television viewers would witness Thorburn achieve something no other player outside the United Kingdom had ever done: win the 1980 World Professional Championship in a spellbinding 18-16 defeat of Alex Higgins. He remains the only player from the Americas to win the World Professional Championship. During the 1981/1982 season following his World Championship win, Cliff Thorburn was ranked World Number One, making him the first non-British player to top the World Snooker Rankings. He reached the World Professional Championship final one other time, in 1983, where he was beaten 18-6 by Steve Davis.

Despite not winning the title that year, Thorburn was to mark the 1983 World Professional Championship with an historic achievement when he became the first player to make a maximum 147 break in a World Championship match; a feat achieved during the fourth frame of his second-round match with Terry Griffiths. His triumph established Thorburn in the record books as only the second player, after Steve Davis in 1982, to make an official maximum in professional competition.

In addition to his individual World Championship, Thorburn also held team and doubles World Championships. In 1982 he won the World Team Classic with fellow Canadians Kirk Stevens and Bill Werbeniuk and the 1990 World Cup as part of team Canada along with Robert Chaperon and Alain Robidoux. Thorburn also won the World Mixed Doubles Championship with Sudbury’s Natalie Stelmach in 1981.

Cliff Thorburn is a four-time Canadian Open Champion – 1974, 1978, 1979 and 1980; a five-time Canadian Professional Champion – 1980, 1984, 1985, 1986, and 1987; and a six-time Canadian Amateur Champion – 1972, 1974, 1975, 1976, 1977 and 2001.

Throughout his long and illustrious career Cliff Thorburn reached 10 ranking finals, winning two titles; 12 amateur finals, winning seven titles; 9 team finals, winning four titles and 25 non-ranking finals winning 18 titles. Thorburn continued to play into his senior years and won the 2018 Senior Masters at the Crucible Theatre at the age of 70. He retired from competitive snooker in 2022 but continues to play exhibitions and focus on coaching.

Cliff Thorburn has left an indelible mark in the annals of Canadian Sports history. He will forever be remembered as a trailblazer paving the way for future stars and as a true ambassador for world snooker and Canadian sport. Fittingly, he was the first member inducted into the Canadian Snooker Hall of Fame in 1990. Additionally, he received the extraordinary honour of being recognized by his country when he was made a member of the Order of Canada in 1984. He also holds a place in the BC Sports Hall of Fame as of 1995, the Canadian Sports Hall of Fame as of 2001, and the World Snooker Hall of Fame in as of 2014. His legacy in Canadian snooker will never be equalled.