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

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 based in Bristol, England. It owns and publishes the official rules of the two sports and engages in promotion ...

(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__ Calendar Official ranking ...

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 Bernie Mikkelsen (born 11 April 1950) is a Canadian former professional snooker player. Career Mikkelsen recorded a 9–8 victory over John Pulman to reach the semi-finals of the 1976 Canadian Open where he lost 1–9 to Alex Higgins. At the 1 ...

. 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 sno ...

, and 2–1 against

Bill Oliver Bill Oliver may refer to: *Bill Oliver (American football) (born 1939), American football player and coach * Bill Oliver (politician), Canadian politician *Bill Oliver (snooker player) Bill Oliver (born 3 December 1948) is an English former pro ...

. 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 three seniors World titles. Nicknamed "The Whirlwind" because of his fluid, attacking style of play, White is the 1980 World Amateur Champion, 2009 ...

and

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

, 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 C ...

, Rigitano was eliminated in the first round, 7–10 by

Matt Gibson Matt Gibson (born 7 May 1953) is a Scottish former professional snooker player. Career Gibson was runner-up to Tony Knowles in the 1972 British Junior Championship, and defeated Ronnie Millar to win the 1980 Scottish Amateur Championship. He ...

. At the 1985 World Snooker Championship, Rigitano progressed to the last 48, with wins against

Dessie Sheehan Dessie Sheehan (born 3 September 1949 in Limerick) is an Irish former professional snooker player. Career Born in 1949, Sheehan turned professional in 1981. His first match was a 5–1 victory over Vic Harris in the International Open, but he ...

(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 world ...

(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 Blac ...

. 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 A ranking is a relationship between a set of items such that, for any two items ...

, and was his best-ever performance at the

World Snooker Championship The World Snooker Championship is the longest-running and most prestigious tournament in professional snooker. It is also the wealthiest, with total prize money in 2022 of £2,395,000, including £500,000 for the winner. First held in 1927 Wor ...

, 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 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 order or total preorder of o ...

that he achieved was 77th.

References

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