Alain Robidoux is a Canadian former professional 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. Although he is predominantly right-handed, O'Sullivan 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 despite a 43-point deficit with only the pink and blackon 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. 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. Robidoux blamed his decline on the destruction of his favourite cue, 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."
