Alain Robidoux (born July 25, 1960) is a Canadian retired professional

snooker Snooker (pronounced , ) is a cue sport played on a rectangular Billiard table#Snooker and English billiards tables, billiards table covered with a green cloth called baize, with six Billiard table#Pockets 2, pockets: one at each corner and ...

player. Robidoux played on the sport's main tour from 1987 to 2004 and reached the final of the 1996 German Open, which he lost 7–9 to

Ronnie O'Sullivan Ronald Antonio O'Sullivan (born 5 December 1975) is an English professional snooker player. Widely recognised as one of the most talented and accomplished players in snooker history, he has won the World Snooker Championship seven times, a m ...

Career

Robidoux was born on 25 July 1960 in Canada. He joined the professional snooker circuit in the

1987–88 snooker season The 1987–88 snooker season was a series of snooker tournaments played between 29 June 1987 and 15 May 1988. The following table outlines the results for the ranking and invitational events. New professional players The World Profe ...

as a "non-tournament" professional. This entitled him to play only in the World Championship. He amassed enough points in the 1988 World Championship qualifiers to finish in the top 128 players, which allowed him to join the tour full-time. In September 1988, Robidoux became only the sixth player ever to record an officially ratified 147

maximum break A maximum break (also known as a maximum, a 147, or orally, a onefourseven) is the highest possible in snooker in normal circumstances and is a special type of . A player compiles a maximum break by potting all 15 with 15 for 120 points, fo ...

, achieved in the qualifying rounds of the European Open. He won the Canadian Professional Championship by defeating

Jim Wych Jim Wych (born 11 January 1955 in Calgary) is a Canadian sports commentator and former professional snooker and pocket billiards player. He turned professional in 1979 and reached the quarter-final of the 1980 World Snooker Championship in his deb ...

8–4 in the final. He reached the semi-finals of the Grand Prix in October 1988, where he won six consecutive frames from 1–8 down against

Alex Higgins Alexander Gordon Higgins (18 March 1949 – 24 July 2010) was a Northern Irish professional snooker player and a two-time world champion who is remembered as one of the most iconic figures in the sport's history. Nicknamed "Hurricane Higgi ...

, but ultimately lost the match 7–9. In the first round of the 1996 World Championship, Robidoux was beaten 3–10 by

in a controversial match. Although predominantly right-handed, O'Sullivan played a number of shots with his left hand, and the behaviour was described by commentator

John Virgo John Trevor Virgo (born 4 March 1946) is an English snooker commentator and former professional snooker player. After turning professional in 1976, Virgo won four professional titles, including the 1979 UK Championship, the 1980 Bombay Int ...

as O'Sullivan "

taking the mick ''Taking the piss'' is a colloquial term meaning to either mock at the expense of others, or to be joking, without the element of offence; or to be 'unfair' and take more than is warranted. It is a shortening of the idiom taking the piss out of ...

". The matter came to a head in the eleventh frame, when Robidoux was 2–8 down and he was declining to concede the frame, instead continuing to despite a 43-point deficit with only the and on the table. He refused to shake O'Sullivan's hand at the end of the match. In response, O'Sullivan claimed that he played better with his left hand than Robidoux could with his right. Realising that O'Sullivan was able to play equally well with both hands, Robidoux later apologised to him. In the 1996–97 season, Robidoux reached the final of the 1996 German Open, but he lost 7–9 to O'Sullivan despite making a tournament-best 145 break. That same season, he progressed to the semi-finals of the 1997 World Snooker Championship, defeating Brian Morgan, Stefan Mazrocis and Lee Walker, before losing to eventual champion

Ken Doherty Kenneth Joseph Doherty (born 17 September 1969) is an Irish professional snooker player who also works as a commentator and pundit on televised snooker broadcasts. From Ranelagh in Dublin, he is the sport's only World Snooker Championship, wor ...

. He finished the season 9th in the world rankings, which was to be his career-best ranking position. However he then endured a torrid 1997–98 season, losing all his matches and did not win a match again until the following season at the 1999 Welsh Open, where he reached the last 16. He lost his professional status in 2004 after placing 102nd in the rankings. Robidoux blamed his decline on the destruction of his favourite cue, which he referred to as "the Eel". When he returned the cue to the man from whom he had bought it to have it mended, the man objected to Robidoux having fixed a sponsor's logo to the butt and smashed the cue to pieces. Several years later, Robidoux was asked whether the passage of time had eased his anger towards the cue maker; he responded "I want to kill him."

Performance and rankings timeline

Career finals

Ranking finals: 1

Non-ranking finals: 1 (1 title)

Team finals: 1 (1 title)

Amateur finals: 7 (7 titles)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Robidoux, Alain Canadian snooker players Canadian people of French descent 1960 births Sportspeople from Saint-Jérôme Living people