By Elliott West
Introduction
Cliff Thorburn announced this week that the UK Seniors Championship will be his last competitive tournament. A sad moment but an announcement that comes eventually from any player. Cliff can be extremely proud of his snooker efforts, being the last of the Canadian triumvirate, the others being Kirk Stevens and Bill Werbenuik, to retire. Thorburn’s announcement follows that of his good friend Dennis Taylor, who chose to make a similar announcement at a Seniors event last year.
This debonair player who I have been lucky enough to have become friends with in recent years doesn’t seem to have slowed down despite being 73. If he is not playing snooker, he has been actively been promoting the game across the globe, especially in his home country where the interest in snooker has sadly reverted back to pool. In fact, I hear that he was still practicing at 10 pm last night and they had to come and turn the lights out.
The Original Hustler
A man who won the World Championship in 1980 and claimed an impressive three Masters titles, a total of 2 professional titles and 17 non-ranking titles, Cliff is the original hustler, who started playing pool predominately in the pool halls across Canada. Like many of the billiard halls in this country at that time, these places were filled with a number of unsavoury characters but you had to earn money and the only way was to play the money games that these establishments offered. Someone who had to make ends meet, also turning to become a bin man and dishwasher for a while.
Cliff once played a game in Oakland and was winning a fair amount of money but then was approached by a man who opened his jacket and showed that he had a gun. Let’s say he decided to lose a percentage of his winnings as a result of this meeting and a rather direct warning from the man in question.
“Ain’t nobody leaves here with my player’s money’. My friends told me to lose all the money we had won, which I wasn’t happy about. But eventually I saw we had to lose at least some of it – or get robbed”.
Cliff Thorburn
These could be dangerous places where if you got on the wrong side of the individuals inside, you were likely to be at the receiving end of a cue or ball. Places where fights were commonplace and you had to be constantly on guard.
Alex versus Cliff
Cliff Thorburn’s main adversary in his early career was Alex Higgins A man who defeated 18-16 in the 1980 World Championship to claim his only Crucible title. This was a time in history when the SAS were storming the Iranian embassy in London and Alex who thought he had the trophy in his cabinet, bought a cake to celebrate when he drew the match at 16-16. When he went on to lose, Thorburn planted his face in it.
Cliff respected Alex’s brilliance but didn’t take fools lightly. During the 1983 Irish Open, Alex insulted Cliff and Alex ended up on the floor, being on the losing end of a Thorburn punch. It was clear that Alex felt intimidated by Thorburn but Cliff wasn’t prepared to be part of the Higgins controversy roadshow and made him aware of this when it spilt over onto his driveway.
That 147 Break
Cliff is most remembered for that classic 147 break at the 1983 World Championship in his second-round match against Terry Griffiths. A break that began with a flukey red, has gone down in snooker history as an all-time classic. Missing the first red, the intended red came back down the rail and knocked another red into the opposite pocket. A fluke that allowed him to stay on the black and a blessing that the commentator Jack Karnehm at the time, called “a bonus”. This led to a formidable break with his good friend Bill Werbenuik looking on anxiously from behind the screen on the other table.
Facing the last black, Jack Karnehm cried out from the commentary box “Good luck mate” and it seemed to be subconsciously heard by the Canadian. A beautifully sunk black sent the audience wild, rising to their feet and Cliff sunk to his knees in elation. After a group hug from Bill Werbenuik and Terry Griffiths, Cliff picked up his cigarettes and left the stage punching the air, £18,000 richer as a result.
The Thorburn Legacy
No one has ever taken away Cliff’s title of being the original grinder. His apprentice Mark Selby seems leagues behind in comparison and he certainly can’t beat the late finish that Thorburn had when in the same 147 Crucible slog, Cliff emerged victorious, winning 13-12 against Terry Griffiths at 3.51 am on a Monday morning, one of the latest finishes in snooker history and one where Thorburn had to dissuade a diminishing audience from leaving at one stage.
Cliff should be very proud of his long and illustrious career in snooker and doing his homeland of Canada proud. Nowadays, Cliff spends more time on another green surface, the golf course in Markham, Ontario. When not putting, he is snooker coaching and so it is fitting that he ends his career on a high. Playing Kuldesh Johal at the UK Seniors in Hull, Cliff might lose or continue slightly longer if he wins, whatever the outcome, we know that when he does bow out, the audience will give him rapturous applause for his excellent contribution to snooker. Thorburn will also make several other exhibition appearances whilst in the UK including an appearance at Paddock Wood Social Club on 22/01/22.
