Alain Robidoux
Born | Saint-Jérôme, Quebec | July 25, 1960
---|---|
Sport country | Canada |
Professional | 1987–2004 |
Highest ranking | 9 (1996–1998) |
Best ranking finish | Runner-up (1996 German Open) |
Alain Robidoux (born July 25, 1960) is a Canadian snooker player; he played on the sport's main tour from 1988 to 2005 and continues to play in events in Canada.
Career
He was born in Saint-Jérôme, Quebec 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. In October 1988 he reached the semi-finals of the Grand Prix, where he recovered from 0–7 down against Alex Higgins but ultimately lost the match 7–9.
Robidoux's best ranking event performance was reaching the final of the 1996 German Open when he lost 7–9 to Ronnie O'Sullivan. In the first round of the 1996 World Championship, Robidoux was beaten 3–10 by O'Sullivan again, who although predominantly right-handed, played a number of shots with his left hand. This behaviour was described by commentator John Virgo as O'Sullivan "taking the mick". The matter came to a crux in the eleventh frame, with Robidoux 2–8 down, declining to concede the frame, instead continuing to play for snookers 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.[2]
Robidoux reached the semi-finals of the 1997 World Snooker Championship, defeating Brian Morgan, Stefan Mazrocis and Lee Walker before losing to eventual champion Ken Doherty. He subsequently slid rapidly down the rankings.[3] Robidoux blamed his decline on the destruction of his favourite cue,[3] which he referred to as "the Eel". But when he took it back for repairs to the man he bought it from, he objected to Robidoux having fixed a sponsor's logo to the butt end and smashed the cue into 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."[3]
Performance and rankings timeline
Tournament | 1987/ 88 |
1988/ 89 |
1989/ 90 |
1990/ 91 |
1991/ 92 |
1992/ 93 |
1993/ 94 |
1994/ 95 |
1995/ 96 |
1996/ 97 |
1997/ 98 |
1998/ 99 |
1999/ 00 |
2000/ 01 |
2001/ 02 |
2002/ 03 |
2003/ 04 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Ranking[4] | [nb 1] | 102 | 35 | 16 | 13 | 14 | 18 | 32 | 20 | 14 | 9 | 12 | 36 | 49 | 78 | 77 | 91 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Ranking tournaments | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
World Open[nb 2] | A | SF | 3R | 3R | 3R | 2R | 2R | 2R | 3R | QF | 1R | 2R | WD | LQ | LQ | LQ | LQ | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
British Open | A | 2R | 3R | QF | QF | 1R | 2R | 3R | 1R | 2R | 1R | 1R | LQ | LQ | LQ | LQ | LQ | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
UK Championship | A | 1R | QF | 2R | 2R | 1R | 2R | 2R | 2R | QF | 1R | 1R | WD | LQ | 1R | LQ | 1R | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Welsh Open | Tournament Not Held | 1R | 3R | 1R | 1R | 1R | 3R | 1R | 3R | WD | LQ | LQ | LQ | WD | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
European Open[nb 3] | NH | 3R | 2R | 1R | QF | 2R | LQ | 1R | LQ | 2R | NH | 1R | Not Held | LQ | LQ | LQ | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Irish Masters | Non-Ranking Event | LQ | WD | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Players Championship[nb 4] | A | 2R | SF | Not held | 1R | 1R | 3R | SF | 1R | 1R | 1R | LQ | LQ | LQ | LQ | WD | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
World Championship | LQ | LQ | 1R | 2R | 2R | 1R | LQ | 1R | 1R | SF | 1R | 1R | LQ | LQ | LQ | LQ | LQ | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Non-ranking tournaments | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The Masters | A | A | A | WR | QF | 1R | LQ | LQ | LQ | 1R | 1R | 1R | A | A | A | A | A | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Former ranking tournaments | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Canadian Masters | NR | LQ | Tournament Not Held | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Hong Kong Open[nb 5] | NR | NH | 2R | Tournament Not Held | NR | NR | Tournament Not Held | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Classic | A | LQ | LQ | 2R | 3R | Tournament Not Held | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Strachan Open | Tournament Not Held | 2R | MR | NR | Tournament Not Held | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Dubai Classic[nb 6] | NH | NR | 2R | 2R | 1R | 1R | 1R | QF | 1R | 2R | Tournament Not Held | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
German Masters[nb 7] | Tournament Not Held | LQ | F | 1R | NR | Tournament Not Held | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
China Open[nb 8] | Tournament Not Held | NR | 1R | WD | LQ | LQ | Not Held | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Thailand Masters[nb 9] | Not Held | LQ | 1R | QF | 1R | 2R | 1R | 2R | 2R | 1R | 2R | WD | LQ | LQ | NR | NH | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Former non-ranking tournaments | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Canadian Professional Championship | A | W | Tournament Not Held | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
World Matchplay | NH | A | A | A | A | 1R | Tournament Not Held | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Pot Black | A | A | A | A | A | 1R | A | Tournament Not Held | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Charity Challenge | Tournament Not Held | A | A | 1R | A | A | A | A | A | Not Held | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Malta Grand Prix | Tournament Not Held | A | A | SF | QF | A | R | A | Not Held | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Scottish Masters | A | NH | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | 1R | A | A | A | A | A | NH |
Performance Table Legend | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
LQ | lost in the qualifying draw | #R | lost in the early rounds of the tournament (WR = Wildcard round, RR = Round robin) |
QF | lost in the quarter-finals |
SF | lost in the semi–finals | F | lost in the final | W | won the tournament |
DNQ | did not qualify for the tournament | A | did not participate in the tournament | WD | withdrew from the tournament |
NH / Not Held | means an event was not held. | |||
NR / Non-Ranking Event | means an event is/was no longer a ranking event. | |||
R / Ranking Event | means an event is/was a ranking event. | |||
MR / Minor-Ranking Event | means an event is/was a minor-ranking event. |
- ^ New players on the Main Tour do not have a ranking.
- ^ The event ran under different names such as Grand Prix (1987/1988 to 2000/2001) and LG Cup (2001/2002 to 2003/2004).
- ^ The event ran under different names such as European Open (1988/1989 to 1996/1997 and 2001/2002 to 2003/2004) and Irish Open (1998/1999).
- ^ The event ran under different names such as International Open (1987/1988 to 1996/1997).
- ^ The event ran under different names as Australian Masters (1987/1988 and 1995/1996) and Australian Open (1994/1995).
- ^ The event run under different names as Dubai Masters (1988/1989), Thailand Classic (1995/1996) and Asian Classic (1996/1997)
- ^ The event ran under different name as German Open (1995/1996 to 1997/1998).
- ^ The event ran under different names as China International (1997/1998 and 1998/1999)
- ^ The event ran under different names such as Asian Open (1989/1990 to 1992/1993) and Thailand Open (1993/1994 to 1996/1997).
Career finals
Ranking finals: 1 (1 runner-up)
Outcome | No. | Year | Championship | Opponent in the final | Score |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Runner-up | 1. | 1996 | German Open | Ronnie O'Sullivan | 7–9 |
Non-ranking finals: 1 (1 title)
Outcome | No. | Year | Championship | Opponent in the final | Score |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Winner | 1. | 1988 | Canadian Professional Championship | Jim Wych | 8–4 |
Team finals: 1 (1 title)
Outcome | No. | Year | Championship | Team/partner | Opponent(s) in the final | Score |
Winner | 1. | 1990 | World Cup | Canada | Northern Ireland | 9–5 |
Amateur finals: 7 (7 titles)
Outcome | No. | Year | Championship | Opponent in the final | Score |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Winner | 1. | 1983 | Canadian Amateur Championship | Tom Finstad | 9–3 |
Winner | 2. | 1985 | Canadian Amateur Championship (2) | Michael Sobala | 9–6 |
Winner | 3. | 1987 | Canadian Amateur Championship (3) | Jeff White | 7–1 |
Winner | 4. | 2003 | Canadian Amateur Championship (4) | Cliff Thorburn | 6–2 |
Winner | 5. | 2004 | Canadian Amateur Championship (5) | Tom Finstad | 6–2 |
Winner | 6. | 2006 | Canadian Amateur Championship (6) | John White | 6–2 |
Winner | 7. | 2009 | Canadian Amateur Championship (7) | John White | 6–1 |
References
- ^ a b http://cuetracker.net/Players/Alain-Robidoux/Career-Total-Statistics
- ^ https://www.independent.co.uk/sport/anger-over-left-leaning-osullivan-1306125.html
- ^ a b c Hendon, David (26 May 2009). "Past Masters #2". Snooker Scene Blog: News, Opinion and Insight from the Green Baize. Halesowen, England: Snooker Scene Magazine. Retrieved 2010-01-17.
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(help) - ^ "Ranking History". Snooker.org. Retrieved 7 November 2017.