Alain Robidoux

Alain Robidoux (born July 25, 1960) is a Canadian retired professional snooker player. Robidoux played on the sport's main tour from 1987 to 2004 and reached the final of the 1996 German Open, which he lost 7–9 to Ronnie O'Sullivan.

Career Robidoux was born on 25 July 1960 in Canada. He joined the professional snooker circuit in the 1987–88 snooker season as a "non-tournament" professional. This entitled him to play only in the World Championship. He amassed enough points in the 1988 World Championship qualifiers to finish in the top 128 players, which allowed him to join the tour full-time. He won the Canadian Professional Championship by defeating Jim Wych 8–4 in the final. He reached the semi-finals of the Grand Prix in October 1988, where he won six consecutive frames from 1–8 down against Alex Higgins, 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 in a controversial match. Although predominantly right-handed, O'Sullivan played a number of shots with his left hand, and the behaviour was described by commentator John Virgo as O'Sullivan "taking the mick". The matter came to a head in the eleventh frame, when Robidoux was 2–8 down and he was declining to concede the frame, instead continuing to despite a 43-point deficit with only the and on the table. He refused to shake O'Sullivan's hand at the end of the match. In response, O'Sullivan claimed that he played better with his left hand than Robidoux could with his right. Realising that O'Sullivan was able to play equally well with both hands, Robidoux later apologised to him.

In the 1996–97 season, Robidoux reached the final of the 1996 German Open, but he lost 7–9 to O'Sullivan despite making a tournament-best 145 break. That same season, he progressed to 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 finished the season 9th in the world rankings, which was to be his career-best ranking position.

He lost his professional status in 2004 after placing 102nd in the rankings. Robidoux blamed his decline on the destruction of his favourite cue,

Performance and rankings timeline

Performance Table LegendLQ 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-finalsSF lost in the semi–finalsF lost in the finalW won the tournamentDNQ did not qualify for the tournamentA did not participate in the tournamentWD 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.

Career finals Ranking finals: 1 Outcome No. Year Championship Opponent in the final Score Runner-up 1. 1996 German Open 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) OutcomeNo.YearChampionshipTeam/partnerOpponent(s) in the finalScore Winner 1. 1990 World Cup 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