Editing Cliff Thorburn (section)

==Early life==
Thorburn was born on 16 January 1948 in [[Victoria, British Columbia]].<ref name="CANEN">{{cite web |url=https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/clifford-charles-devlin-thorburn |title=Clifford Charles Devlin Thorburn |last=Duncan |first=Graham |date=26 March 2014 |website=The Canadian Encyclopedia |publisher=Historica Canada |access-date=29 July 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190609040610/https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/clifford-charles-devlin-thorburn |archive-date=9 June 2019 |url-status=live }}</ref>{{sfn|Morrison|1988|pages=107–110}} His parents separated when he was eighteen months old.{{sfn|Williams|Gadsby|2005|pages=103–111}}{{rp|104}} He was abandoned by his mother, and after spending about two years in an orphanage during a custody dispute, was raised by his father and his paternal grandmother. He was told that his mother had died, but, aged twenty, learnt that she was still alive.{{sfn|Everton|2012|p=89}}<ref>{{cite news |last=Everton |first=Clive |title=Hard grind and hard knocks |newspaper=The Guardian |location=London |date=16 April 1994 |page=17}}</ref>

He played [[Pool (cue sports)|pool]] and [[lacrosse]] in his youth,{{sfn|Morrison|1988|pages=107–110}} and set a one-game scoring record of ten goals in the Greater Victoria Minor Lacrosse Association "midget division" in 1958.<ref>{{cite news |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |date=24 June 1958 |title=Thorburn sets scoring record in midget ranks |newspaper=Times Colonist |location=Victoria |page=8 }}</ref> He left school at the age of 16, and travelled across Canada playing pool and [[snooker]] money matches, taking jobs as a dishwasher and working on a garbage truck to help earn money for his stakes. In 1968 he entered his first tournaments, and won the Toronto City Championship. He spent time with [[Fred Davis (snooker player)|Fred Davis]] and [[Rex Williams]] when they toured Canada in 1970, and afterwards became a resident professional at the House of Champions club in Toronto.{{sfn|Williams|Gadsby|2005|pages=103–111}}

In July 1970, he reportedly made a [[maximum break]] of 147 in a non-competitive game against Fred Hardwick.<ref>{{cite news |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |date=17 July 1970 |title=Pool shark runs 147 |newspaper=The Ottawa Journal |location=Ottawa |page=18 }}</ref><ref>{{ cite magazine |title=Untitled article |magazine=Billiards and Snooker |publisher=Billiards Association and Control Council |location=London |date=September 1970 |page=14}}</ref> He made six [[century break]]s in winning the North American Amateur Championship in 1971, equalling the record, jointly held by [[Joe Davis]] and [[George Chenier]], for most century breaks in a single tournament.<ref name="NA71" />