Gino Rigitano (born 14 August 1957) is a Canadian former 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.

Career

Rigitano was accepted as a professional by the

World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association The World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association (WPBSA) is the governing body of professional snooker and English billiards. It is headquartered in Bristol, England. Founded as the Professional Billiard Players Association (PBPA) in ...

(WPBSA) in 1983. In the

1983–84 snooker season The 1983–84 snooker season was a series of snooker tournaments played between 4 July 1983 and 19 May 1984. The following table outlines the results for the ranking and the invitational events. __TOC__ New professional players The ...

he defeated

Marcel Gauvreau Marcel Gauvreau (born 9 January 1955) is a Canadian former professional snooker player. Career Gauvreau was born in 1955, and turned professional in 1983. He reached the last 32 at the World Championship at his first attempt in 1984, losing 5� ...

9–6 in the first round of the

1983 Canadian Professional Championship The 1983 Canadian Professional Championship was a professional non-ranking snooker tournament, which took place between 23 August and 4 September 1983 at the Canadian National Exhibition Stadium in Toronto, Canada. Kirk Stevens won his first prof ...

, before losing 4–9 to Bernie Mikkelsen. In his four-player pre-qualifying group for the 1984 International Masters he progressed, recording 2–0 wins against both Dennis Hughes and

Paul Medati Paul Medati (14 November 1943 – 29 November 2008) was an English professional snooker and pool player. Career Medati was born in Ordsall, Salford, Lancashire to Maltese parents, and attended St. Joseph's Primary School. After playing snoo ...

, and 2–1 against Bill Oliver. In the next group round he played

Jimmy White James Warren White (born 2 May 1962) is an English professional snooker player who has won ten ranking events. Nicknamed "The Whirlwind" because of his swift and attacking style of play, White has reached six World Snooker Championship finals ...

and

Frank Jonik Francis "Frank" Jonik (2 December 1957 – 31 March 2019) was a Canadian professional snooker player. Career Born in 1957, Jonik first played competitive snooker in 1978 at the Canadian Professional Championship, and turned professional in 1979 ...

, with White winning the group and qualifying for the main event. At the

1984 World Snooker Championship The 1984 World Snooker Championship (also referred to as the 1984 Embassy World Snooker Championship for the purpose of sponsorship) was a ranking professional snooker tournament that took place between 21 April and 7 May 1984 at the ...

, Rigitano was eliminated in the first round, 7–10 by Matt Gibson. At the

1985 World Snooker Championship The 1985 World Snooker Championship (also known as the 1985 Embassy World Snooker Championship for the purpose of sponsorship) was a professional ranking tournament in snooker that took place from 12 to 28 April 1985 at the Crucible Th ...

, Rigitano progressed to the last 48, with wins against Dessie Sheehan (10–9), Bob Harris (10–4), Billy Kelly (10–6), and

Mick Fisher Mick Fisher (born 12 July 1944) is an English former professional snooker player. He appeared once at the main stage of the World Snooker Championship during his career, and attained a highest professional ranking of 37th, in the Snooker worl ...

(10–2), before losing 8–10 to

Neal Foulds Neal Foulds (born 13 July 1963) is an English former professional snooker player and six-time tournament winner, including the 1986 International Open, the 1988 Dubai Masters and the 1992 Scottish Masters, as well as the invitational Pot Bla ...

. It was the furthest he had progressed in any event in the

1984–85 snooker season The 1984–85 snooker season was a series of snooker tournaments played between July 1984 and May 1985. The following table outlines the results for the ranking and the invitational events. New professional players The World Professional Bill ...

, and was his best-ever performance at the

World Snooker Championship The World Snooker Championship, or simply known as the World Championship, is the longest-running and most prestigious tournament in professional snooker. It is also the richest event to date with a total prize money of £2,395,000, including ...

, and indeed at any major tournament. Rigitano was one of 76 players to either resign their WPBSA membership, or have their professional status removed due to non-payment of the £100 membership fee, in 1993. The highest

ranking A ranking is a relationship between a set of items, often recorded in a list, such that, for any two items, the first is either "ranked higher than", "ranked lower than", or "ranked equal to" the second. In mathematics, this is known as a weak ...

that he achieved was 77th.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rigitano, Gino 1957 births Living people Canadian snooker players