Cliff Thorburn: The Modern Era’s First International World Snooker Champion

Nicknamed ‘The Grinder’ for his slow, deliberate and mechanical like matchplay, Cliff Thorburn was one of snooker's first stars from outside of the UK.

Cliff Thorburn - reliable, tenacious and consistent at the beize.

Born in Canada in 1948, the life and career of snooker's first modern-era World Champion from outside the UK is truly an extraordinary one.

Cliff Thorburn’s Early Life

Thorburn’s early life was not easy, after being abandoned by his mother and briefly living in an orphanage, he was raised by his father and grandmother in his native British Columbia, Canada.

It is here, during his youth, that Thorburn first picked up a cue playing pool as a hobby throughout much of his childhood.

As Thorburn grew older he gradually transitioned from pool to snooker, playing both at an amateur level through his late teens and into his early 20’s.

After playing amateur snooker, Thorburn came across Fred Davis and Rex Williams when they were on their tour of Canada in 1970. He spent time with them during the tour and started to make a name for himself in several amateur competitions.

Thorburn’s Professional Career

1970's

Upon the recommendation of former World Champion, John Spencer, the World Billiards and Snooker Association accepted Thorburn as a professional and ‘The Grinder’ travelled to the UK in 1973 to embark upon his stellar career.

Thorburn’s first appearance as a pro was at the 1973 World Championship, where he beat fellow future great Dennis Taylor in the first round, before being edged out by his old friend Rex Williams in the second.

The first 4 years of Thorburn’s professional career were solid but somewhat unremarkable. The highlights were a World Championship quarterfinal appearance, a Canadian Masters victory and a World Masters victory.

In 1977, his 5th season as a professional, Thorburn started to come of age when he appeared in his first World Championship final (which is coincidentally the first to be held at the Crucible Theatre).

He beat Rex Williams, Eddie Charlton, and Dennis Taylor on route to the final where he faced the man who played a big part in him becoming a pro, John Spencer.

After a mammoth game that saw Thorburn fall behind on multiple occasions before mounting comebacks, the Canadian finally succumbed to a 25-21 defeat. Despite the loss, this was undoubtedly Thorburn’s greatest performance to date and served as a springboard to the rest of his career.

Over the next 3 seasons, Thorburn would rise to 5th in the World Rankings and keep himself very much in the public eye with another World Championship quarterfinal appearance, a Masters runner-up spot and two Canadian Masters titles.

1980’s

At the 1980 World Championship, Thorburn cemented his name in the history books by becoming the first player from outside of the UK to win a modern era World Championship.

With the exception of his first-round match against Doug Mountjoy where he fell behind early on, the route to the final for Thorburn was pretty much plain sailing. He brushed aside Jim Wych and David Taylor with relative ease before coming up against Alex Higgins.

Thorburn and Higgins (nicknamed the Hurricane) were seen as polar opposites in terms of playing style, and it was the slow grinding nature of Thorburn that eventually won out, as he took the title with an 18-16 win.

Cliff Thorburn wins the Snooker World Championship in 1980.

This would be Thorburn’s only World Championship victory, but the 1980s would provide the Canadian with the best years of his career.

He climbed to World Number 1 for the only time in his career in the 1981/82 season, and was an ever-present in snooker's premier competition, reaching one more final, 3 semi-finals and 3 quarterfinals.

He also became the first player ever to make a 147 at the World Championship, and just the second of all time after Steve Davis.

The only other ranking event he went on to win was the 1985 International Open.

He also went on to win a boatload of non-ranking Major titles including an impressive 3 Masters titles, 2 Scottish Masters, 1 Australian Masters, a further Canadian Masters and 5 Canadian International Championships.

It was at the turn of the 1990s when Thorburn’s impressive career started to fizzle out. He eventually retired in 1996 after spending 3 seasons outside of the top 40.

In the early 2000s, Thorburn was immortalized with his induction into the Canadian Sports Hall of Fame.

Cliff Thorburn makes the first-ever Crucible 147 break

Thorburn’s Greatest Moment

The Greatest moment of Thorburn’s career was undoubtedly his World Championship victory against the great Alex Higgins.

He remains just one of two players (the other being Neil Roberston) from outside the UK and Ireland to be crowned World Champion in the modern era.

Thorburn fell 9-5 behind early on, but ground his way back methodically to eventually take the title 18-16 in front of a television audience of over 14 million people. It was this performance that earned him the nickname of ‘The Grinder’.