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🎱Canada

Canada · Toronto

Major honours

2 (1980, 1983)Cliff Thorburn world titles
1980First overseas champion of the TV era
1983First televised maximum at the Crucible

Canada produced the first world champion from outside the British Isles in the television era. Cliff Thorburn beat Alex Higgins 18-16 in 1980 to become the first overseas champion of the Crucible era, and in 1983 made the first televised maximum break of 147 at the World Championship, against Terry Griffiths. Nicknamed the Grinder for his deliberate, slow-paced play, he reached four World Championship finals and won two. Bill Werbeniuk, active in the same period, was well known for his large frame and his habit of drinking beer during matches, while Kirk Stevens showed a different side of Canadian snooker in the early 1980s with flamboyant potting. Canada has not produced another player of Thorburn's stature since, but his win is still remembered as the moment this sport first reached beyond Britain.

Record comparison

World Championship wins
1
World champions produced
1
World number ones produced
0
Women's World Championship wins
0

Bars are scaled to the strongest team in this list.

Club legends

Cliff ThorburnBill WerbeniukKirk Stevens

Rivalry

The defeat of Alex Higgins in the 1980 final remains the most iconic moment in Canadian snooker history, and Australia's production of the second overseas champion 30 years later became the natural point of comparison.

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