Canadian legend and 1980 World Champion Cliff Thorburn has been chatting to The Canadian Press about a number of things, click below to read what he has to say…
On pool:
“The trick shots are easier,”
“It’s more fun, more relaxed. “Snooker is just so difficult to learn how to play.”
Winning the world title:
“In Britain, they recognize the perfect game more than anything, while over here, they recognize the world championship more,” said the player known as The Grinder. “The satisfaction of being the first in 50 or 60 years to do it, that was huge.
“And winning the world championship. I’m still living off it.”
On his current activity:
“I know what the person is going through playing me,” he said. “I’m 60 now, and people have been trying to beat me since I was 18 or 19.
“I’ve seen almost everything. I’ve lost to amateurs before. I have a better chance to lose at pool than at snooker, but it’s still a buzz for me.”
On cue sports in Canada these days:
“Pool is very big now,” “They have leagues.
“People don’t seem to play snooker as much as they used to. I played five hours a day for 16 years to become an overnight sensation.”
On Ronnie O’Sullivan:
“If I only had 15 seconds to explain how good O’Sullivan is to someone who doesn’t understand the game, I’d say he made three 147s at the world championships, but what blows my mind is that in practice, he made a perfect game left-handed. He’s a genius,” said Thorburn.
Click here to read the article in full.