Cliff Thorburn
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| Cliff Thorburn | |
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| Personal Information | |
| Date of birth | January 16, 1948 |
| Nicknames | The Grinder |
| Nationality | Canadian |
| Career | |
| Professional | ?–1996 |
| 2004/5 World Ranking | N/A |
| Best World Ranking | 1 (1981/82) |
| World Championship Best | Winner (1980) |
| Highest Break | 147 (2 times) |
| Ranking Tournament Wins | |
| World Championship | 1980 |
| Goya Matchroom Trophy | 1985 |
| Other Tournament Wins | |
| Benson & Hedges Masters | 1983, 1985, 1986 |
| Pot Black | 1981 |
Clifford Charles Devlin (Cliff) Thorburn (born January 16, 1948 in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada) is a retired professional snooker player. His slow, determined style of play earned him the nickname The Grinder.
Thorburn's finest moment came in the 1980 World Championship. He met Alex Higgins in the final, two personalities that could hardly be more different. Thorburn won the match 18-16 to take the championship, and rose to number two in the world rankings. The following season, he reached the number one spot.
In 1983, Thorburn became the first player to get a maximum 147 break at the World Championships in a match against Terry Griffiths; an event made more notable by the fact that it stopped the other match going on at the second table - Thorburn's friend and fellow Canadian Bill Werbeniuk wanted to watch the break instead of play his own match; and joined in the celebrations with Thorburn and Griffiths when the break was completed. That same year, he was made a Member of the Order of Canada.
Thorburn retired from professional play in 1996, but still plays snooker.pl:Cliff Thorburn zh:克里夫·桑本