Alain Robidoux (born July 25, 1960) is a Canadian retired professional
snooker
Snooker (pronounced , ) is a cue sports, cue sport played on a Billiard table#Snooker and English billiards tables, rectangular table covered with a green cloth called baize, with six Billiard table#Pockets 2, pockets, one at each corner and o ...
player. Robidoux played on the sport's
main tour from 1987 to 2004 and continues to play in events in Canada.
Career
He was born in
Saint-Jérôme
Saint-Jérôme () ( 2021 population 80,213) is a suburban city located about northwest of Montreal on the Rivière du Nord. It is part of the Montreal of Greater Montreal. It is a gateway to the Laurentian Mountains and its resorts via the ...
,
Quebec
Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...
and joined the pro circuit in the late 1980s, playing as a "non-tournament" professional. This entitled Robidoux to be listed on official rankings, although he could not play in most competitions. In 1988, Robidoux amassed enough points in the World Championship qualifiers to finish in the top 128 players, and thus allowing 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 in the qualifiers for the
European Open. The same month, he won his sole professional title, the
Canadian Professional Championship
The Canadian Professional Championship was a professional snooker tournament which was open only for Canadian players.
History
The championship was first played unofficially in 1974 with Cliff Thorburn winning the title.
The first official Cana ...
. In October 1988 he reached the semi-finals of the
Grand Prix
Grand Prix ( , meaning ''Grand Prize''; plural Grands Prix), is a name sometimes used for competitions or sport events, alluding to the winner receiving a prize, trophy or honour
Grand Prix or grand prix may refer to:
Arts and entertainment ...
, where he recovered from 0–7 down against
Alex Higgins
Alexander Gordon Higgins (18 March 1949 – 24 July 2010) was a Northern Irish professional snooker player who is remembered as one of the most iconic figures in the game. Nicknamed "Hurricane Higgins" because of his fast play, he was Worl ...
but ultimately lost the match 7–9.
In the first round of the
1996 World Championship, Robidoux was beaten 3–10 by
Ronnie O'Sullivan
Ronald Antonio O'Sullivan (born 5 December 1975) is an English professional snooker player who is the current world champion and world number one. Widely recognised as one of the most talented and accomplished players in the sport's history, ...
in a controversial match. Although he is predominantly right-handed, O'Sullivan played a number of shots with his left hand. This behaviour was described by commentator
John Virgo
John Virgo (born 4 March 1946) is an English former professional snooker player who has since developed a career as a snooker commentator and TV personality.
Snooker career
Early professional career (1973–1978)
Virgo's first notable appea ...
as O'Sullivan "
taking the mick
''Taking the piss'' is a colloquial term meaning to mock at the expense of others, or to be joking, without the element of offence. (Compare with the American "fuck with.") It is a shortening of the idiom taking the piss out of, which is an exp ...
". The matter came to a crux in the eleventh frame, with Robidoux 2–8 down, declining to concede the frame, instead continuing to despite a 43-point deficit with only the pink and black on the table. Robidoux refused to shake O'Sullivan's hand at the end of the match. O'Sullivan responded by claiming that he played better with his left hand than Robidoux could with his right. Robidoux would later apologize to O'Sullivan when it became obvious that the latter could play equally well with both hands and the two would become friends.
The 1996/97 season saw
Robidoux reaching his only ever final at the
1996 German Open; in another memorable encounter against Ronnie O'Sullivan, he lost 7–9, despite making a tournament-best 145 break. He also reached the semi-finals of the
1997 World Snooker Championship
The 1997 World Snooker Championship (also referred to as the 1997 Embassy World Snooker Championship for the purposes of sponsorship) was a professional ranking snooker tournament that took place between 19 April and 5 May 1997. Staged ...
, defeating
Brian Morgan,
Stefan Mazrocis
Stefan Mazrocis (born 18 April 1967) is a Dutch-English former professional snooker player. He was born of Latvian and English parentage, and spent his early life in Leicester, England.
Career
Mazrocis turned professional in 1991. In 1995, ...
and
Lee Walker
Lee Walker (born 11 February 1976) is a Welsh former professional snooker player who is the reigning World Seniors Champion. He is both an official WPBSA and SightRight coach.
Career
After turning professional in 1994 at the age of 18, Walker r ...
before losing to eventual champion
Ken Doherty
Ken Doherty (born 17 September 1969) is an Irish professional snooker player, commentator and radio presenter.
As an amateur, Doherty won the Irish Amateur Championship twice, the World Under-21 Amateur Championship and the World Amateur C ...
. This was the peak of Robidoux's career, as he finished the season career-best 9th in the world rankings. The next season was a disaster as Robidoux failed to win a single match, and he subsequently slid rapidly down the rankings, before finally retiring in 2004.
Robidoux blamed his decline on the destruction of his favourite
cue,
which he referred to as "the Eel". When Robidoux 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 may have 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
*
Snooker.org profile of Robidoux
{{DEFAULTSORT:Robidoux, Alain
Canadian snooker players
Canadian people of French descent
1960 births
People from Saint-Jérôme
Living people