Cliff Thorburn

Profile:

Date Of Birth: 16 January 1948

Based: Ontario
Highlight In The Last 12 Months: Canadian Snooker champion, Inducted in to Canadian Sports Hall of Fame
Highlight Of Career: Canadian champion (14 times), 1980 World Snooker champion, Awarded the Order of Canada
Cue Used: Predator
Nickname: The Grinder
Favourite Player: Jim Rempe
Describe Yourself: Honest, friendly, tough

Cliff Thorburn saw his James Bay teammates make three errors on one play in the 1963 B.C. Babe Ruth championship game, and suddenly it dawned on him. Team sports just weren't for him. He couldn't stand the thought of leaving his fate in the hands of others. So all through is professional sports life, Thorburn has relied on nobody but himself.
When you drop out of Central Junior High at 16 to pursue a life in pool halls, you live by your wits. And you had better be good. Thorburn was. He made the world snooker championship final game in 1977 before winning the world title in 1980—the first overseas player to turn the trick in the history of the event. The world championships are watched by more than 20 million people in Britain so it's hardly surprising Thorburn remains a household name there and can hardly walk into a pub without being recognized.

He still makes a living giving trick shot displays all over North America.

It's a long way from the Gibson's Bowladrome on Yates Street where it all began. Cliff went bowling there at age 13 with his father, Jimmy. In the middle of the bowling game, little Cliff wondered what the strange noise was coming from the basement.

He went downstairs and saw a bunch of guys playing pool in a smoky room. "It looked interesting and you didn't have to rely on others, so I went back and played every day," said Thorburn. "I could feel myself improving every day I went to Gibson's." Yeah, after a world title, 13 Canadian titles and 27 professional titles worldwide, you could say that.