First 147 at the Crucible - Cliff Thorburn

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[@tonydobson2933]

18:44 Love the spontaneous joy of this moment with Griffitths and Werbeniuk.

[@w4tkn]

I came to say the same thing, they were delighted for him.

[@CricketEngland]

No one remembers though who Werbinuk was playing though and why he sat in his chair throughout

[@JohnSmith-su3ze]

@@CricketEngland It was David Taylor. No idea why he sat in his chair. Seems churlish!

[@bondy284]

One of my late Dad’s favourite players and I still have his Cliff Thorburn autograph snooker cue👍🇦🇺

[@markbradford1992]

Nice! Dad told me stories about Thorburn as a kid, I'm 53 now. Best snooker player Canada ever produced.

[@bondy284]

Mark Bradford . I am 57 and we used to love watching Pot Black on a Friday night after playing snooker at the RSL club in the early 80’s.

[@tjc89]

'Awwwww good luck mate' - brilliant line from Jack Karneham and you can tell it just came naturally out of his mouth.

[@Nixter1974007]

Still quality after all these years. Brilliant player Cliff 👌👌

[@CricketEngland]

“Good luck mate” when Cliff is in the final black is as iconic a piece of commentary as any in sport.

[@lonestar6709]

The best 147 of all time. Slow and steady. But superb, from start to finish.

[@DougHanchard]

1983. Damn! Where does the time go? He won the Seniors Masters at the Crucible Theatre in 2018 at the age of 70!!!

[@pierredpierred8143]

It's been quite a while Cliff but congrats anyway. I had the privilege of seeing you @ a snooker exhibition in the early 70's Sudbury. Skill, class and your sense of humor is what stuck with me. HNY 2020!

[@dangavin113]

That black to get on the second to last red was amazing! Thorburn was one of the absolute greats

[@sHarivaRi1]

you shouldnt all yell about his speed. fact is: he did a maximum, and none of you here will never even reach a century break ;)

[@cryptocaan3956]

sHarivaRi1 most of us can’t get past a 30 break lol

[@shuaib4192]

Crypto Caan id be happy if i be anywhere near 30😆

[@Trev359]

Quite right. There's not one comment about how brilliant this was and what a memorable occasion. All these people can talk about is how slow he was.

[@shuaib4192]

Delboy359 tbh..i dint think this was actually that slow..19mins is a pretty decent time for a 147 without taking in the circumstances of the occasion.

[@Trev359]

I agree. I don't think it was slow. I'm just referring to comments below that say he was.

[@kramshiron]

Who came here after seeing cliff with Stephen hendry on his show. 😊

[@marwood1969]

Why am I getting nervous for him 38 years later?

[@henriksoderstrom8551]

This must be the ONLY 147 break in history scored by missing the first red !

[@kristalmacleod3004]

G- QUESTION

[@billysanderson5263]

Cliff Thorburn became my favourite ever player once I saw this as a kid.

[@Flash46201]

Even though the title of the video was a spoiler, it was fucking magic to watch. Cliff, you are a Canadian legend!

[@yossibenayoun5642]

every time i watch a 147 i'm always dumbfounded. My highest ever was a 22 and the balls lined up easy as fuck haha

[@davidkemp8721]

We had cliff and Kirk and another pro come to London Ontario for a pro am tournament the last day of that tournament cliff ran a 147 the owner of the room made a plack for what he did bye the table it was done on and it wasn't a bce table it was actually a duffrin table can't even remember the year maybe 95

[@kevinprior3549]

These two made Ebdon and Selby seem quick

[@ryanking7787]

Back in the days when 95% of snooker players were as slow as Peter Ebdon.

[@ewanthug91]

well jimmy white were not

[@Kwittz147]

สุดยอดเลย

[@OtakuLogan2017]

18:27 perfect.

[@Calinn86]

those days you could smoke even while brain surgery was performed on you

[@toresigbjrnrysstad1686]

almost true

[@christianroberts4184]

Haha maybe smoke while performing brain surgery Im not sure about receiving.

[@pintanin]

Can you please also write the dates of the videos.

[@hharadon]

This was in 1983; I just googled it.

[@stickerred]

At that time, the techniques of many players controlled cue ball not mature really. You found that stun shot was not common skill. So,high break was very difficult. Today, many skills and experiences have been Accumulated by many great players for a long time. Training and tools are also upgraded.

[@markaustin5543]

I think he's probably foreign, Matt. I believe he's saying the cue ball control of the modern player is better and the game has improved and progressed.

[@ppgedez]

Not a mention of the 147 till 11 minutes in.

[@johnforeman634]

Oh my god that was phenomenal! It’s that last black. That’s the worst one of all.

[@Luke_-_]

The pace has certainly picked up but just like snooker evolving the bridge hand has also came closer, he was called the grinder because he’d drag out the games and Wear you down, and yes Peter Ebdon took this too far

[@dantheman192]

this took a while

[@davidbroughall3782]

would hate to see a match between him and Peter Ebdon.

[@joshhodkinson9305]

They actually played each other in a best-of-3-frames match in 1992. The match finished yesterday.

[@rockywaters9592]

@@joshhodkinson9305 I just heard today that Griffiths only just put his cue back in its case.

[@snkhuong]

lol u could smoke while playing ?

[@csb7376]

...and drink. Bill Weirbenuik used to get through about 8 pints in a match.

[@dannyb763]

Cliff nicknamed The Grinder but notice he made the century in 4 minutes 40 seconds. The first 104. Among the balls, very quick.

[@highnumber13]

He took over ten minutes to make the century.

[@1986pakoe]

At shot 104 going to 105 points, sounds like he actually double kissed the cueball with his cue. He takes a break after to regain composure because he is probably surprised referee didnt catch it. Listen closely at 14:45 minutes and you be the judge.

[@P4flats]

All I hear is the double click due to close proximity of the white & red. The break he takes, IMO, is due to the pressure he feels of the difficulty in getting on the final red with correct position for the final black. He knows that the maximum depends on it. He is well aware of what is at stake here - the record.

[@klieu90210]

Definitely a double-hit foul. If it were struck legally, it would've delayed for the topspin to take. -an aspiring referee/rule snob

[@toniocandle5001]

Proximity with the red makes this feeling. Hard to see any reaction from him as video is very low quality...

[@everythingbobbywolfe]

Doubtful. It was too far away to have double kissed, especially for someone at his level.snooker players are notorious for calling fouls in themselves and Cliff has integrity. The referee would have been on that like a cheap suit or a Chinese man on the Corona virus.

[@CueSocietyofUpperCanada]

@@everythingbobbywolfe I spoke with him several years ago and we were watching this frame and when it came to that point Cliff explained that his nose was running terribly and he needed to clean it up and regain his composure.

[@kevinprior3549]

Bet this match went on for three days

[@TheRedJohnn]

The fault doesn´t count as part of his break.

[@jonpettet7085]

great but soooo slow

[@davidmicallef6412]

F#*king Adverts!

[@swammpwatter]

isn't it 151?

[@planetx1595]

I am bit late with the reply here, and I am sure by now you have figured it out, but 151 was his score, not his break.

[@Darkreign1]

Terry Griffiths made a foul which gave him 4 points. Cliff Thorburn then made the 147 which put the 147 points on top to give him 151 points. The only way you can get higher than 147 and the theoretical maximum of 155 which is also near impossible is getting a free ball while all 15 red balls are still on the table

[@TigerZer0]

Dear God he is so slow

[@paleshelter4002]

Deliberate player...but great concentration

[@letsdiscussitoversometea8479]

This was a completely expected rate of play back then - probably going on into the mid '90s (maybe even later). Griffiths was notoriously ridiculed for being "slow" back then, which could explain why one session in this match carried on until almost 4am - to this day, the record for the latest ever finish for a tournament match (at least from my understanding). Snooker isn't supposed to be a fast game, it's supposed to be tactical, and should be appreciated for this aspect, not taken for granted as being "entertaining" (ie all Ronnie and nothing else).

[@Darkreign1]

@@letsdiscussitoversometea8479 barely anyone has patience nowadays. I don't know what people would think if the pace of the game was the same now as it was back then but without the style that players like Alex Higgins used to give that you never see anymore