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French Canadian, Alain Robidoux, reached the semi-finals of
the 1987 World Amateur Championship in Bangalore losing out to
eventual winner, Darren Morgan.
He obtained associate professional status and four months
later was in the qualifiers for the Embassy World
Championships making him the only player to play in both world
amateur and professional events in the same season. He gained
the distinction of obtaining full professional status without
potting a ball. Both his first and second round opponents
withdrew and although he lost his third round match, he had
achieved sufficient points to ensure a place on the main tour
for the 1988/89 season with a ranking of 102.
He began his first pro season by winning the Canadian
professional title and then made a maximum 147 break in the
qualifying rounds of the European Open in Blackpool. He
reached the semi final of the Grand Prix at Reading and the
last 16 of the European Open as well as two other last 32
places. That took him up to the verge of the top 32 at number
35.
The following season he made it to another semi-final, the
BCE International and two last 16 spots. In four other events
he reached the last 32 including his first visit to the
Crucible. He ended the season 17th in the rankings.
Another consistent season in 1990/91 including the British
Open quarter-finals and the last 16 of the Embassy took him
into the top 16 at 13th and he maintained his place in the
elite with three more quarter-finals the following season. In
1992/3 however, he lost his opening match in six of the nine
ranking events and he was back down to 18th. Another poor
season followed and he only just hung on in the top 32.
Alain regained some of his form in 1994/5 and moved up a few
places and after another ranking semi-final in the
International Open in 1995/6 he managed to regain his top 16
place at number 14. 1996/7 proved to be his best season to
date. He was runner up to Ronnie O'Sullivan in the German Open
as well as reaching the quarter-finals of both the Grand Prix
and UK Championship. He then went on to reach the semi-final
at the Crucible where he lost to the eventual winner, Ken
Doherty. He achieved his best ever ranking of ninth by the
season's end.
There then followed a remarkable loss of form for in the
following season Alain failed to win a single match. He was
not helped by losing his favourite cue but somehow held on to
a place in the top 16. He managed a couple of wins the next
season but by now was thoroughly depressed and down to 36th in
the rankings. His depression continued and he failed to play
most of the tournaments in 1999/2000 and his ranking dropped
to 49th. He came back refreshed the next season but his
results were only moderate and he dropped further down the
ranking list to 78th, just managing to retain a place on the
tour for 2001/2. Further indifferent results in the next
campaign resulted in a rise of just one place.
Alain is in demand on the trick shot circuit. His speciality
is his finger spinning where he pots ball by spinning the cue
ball in his fingers rather that using a cue. He had earned a
total of £662,744 in prize money up to the end of the 2001/02
season.
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