birth_place professional birth_date nickname image article_title name
victoria , british columbia 1972 & ndash ; 1996 16 january 1948 the grinder cliff thorburn.jpg cliff thorburn
 cliff thorburn
cliff thorburn

clifford charles devlin thorburn , known as cliff thorburn -lrb- born january 16 , 1948 in victoria , british columbia -rrb- is a retired professional canadian snooker player .
a former world number one -lrb- one of only ten players to hold that spot -rrb- , he was world snooker champion in 1980 , one of only three players from outside the united kingdom to win the world title in the modern era -lrb- along with ken doherty and neil robertson -rrb- .
in 1983 , thorburn became the first player to compile a maximum break at the world championships .
his slow , determined style of play earned him the nickname `` the grinder '' .
