Canadian Amateur Championship (snooker)

Canadian Amateur Championship

Tournament information
Location	Toronto
Country	Canada
Established	1969;56 years ago (1969)
Organisation(s)	Canadian Billiards & Snooker Association
Format	Amateur event
Recent edition	2022
Current champion	Vito Puopolo

The Canadian Amateur Championship (occasionally known as the Canadian Snooker Championship) is an annual snooker competition played in Canada and is the highest ranking amateur event in the country.

The competition was first established back in 1969 which was won by Paul Thornley. Alain Robidoux is the record championship holder with seven titles, one ahead of Kirk Stevens. Tom Finstad holds the record for reaching the most finals having reached eleven finals and won the championship three times. The championship is currently held by Vito Puopolo, who defeated Alan Whitfield 5–3 in the 2022 final. ^[1]

Many former champions have gone on to play on the world tour such as Alain Robidoux, Kirk Stevens, Bob Chaperon, Jim Wych, Bill Werbeniuk and most notably Cliff Thorburn who won the competition in 1972, 1974, 1975, 1976, 1977 and 2001, eventually going on to become the first player in the modern era from outside the United Kingdom to win the World Snooker Championship in 1980.

Winners

^{[2] [3]}

Year	Winner	Runner-up	Final score	City
Amateur event
1969 [4]	Paul Thornley	Don Maybee	18–10	Toronto
1970	Paul Thornley	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown
1971	Winnie McKinlay	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown
1972	Cliff Thorburn	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown
1973	Bill Werbeniuk	Robert Paquette	16–15	Toronto
1974	Cliff Thorburn	Julien St. Denis	13–11	Ottawa
1975	Cliff Thorburn	Bill Werbeniuk	11–1	Ottawa
1976	Cliff Thorburn	Bill Werbeniuk	9–2	Ottawa
1977	Cliff Thorburn	Robert Paquette	10–6	Ottawa
1978	Kirk Stevens	Robert Paquette	10–6	Ottawa
1979 [5]	Jim Wych	Robert Paquette	10–7	Ottawa
1980 [6]	Jim Bear	Robert Paquette	9–3	Ottawa
1981	Bob Chaperon	Carey Lorraine	9–5	Ottawa
1982 [7]	Brian McConnell	Robert Paquette	9–7	Montreal
1983	Alain Robidoux	Tom Finstad	9–3	Montreal
1984	Tom Finstad	Claude Smith	9–6	Montreal
1985	Alain Robidoux	Mike Sobala	9–6	Montreal
1986	Gary Natale	Larry Firth	7–4	Vancouver
1987	Alain Robidoux	Jeff White	7–1	Vancouver
1988	Brady Gollan	John Bear	7–3	Halifax
1989 [8]	Tom Finstad	Gary Natale	8–6	Halifax
1990	John White	Jeff White	Unknown	Halifax
1991	Ed Galati	Frank Kissner	8–5	Toronto
1992	Chris Woods	Fern Loyer	8–1	Saskatoon
1993	Daryl Wouters	Tom Matsui	8–6	Saskatoon
1994	Kirk Clouthier	John Kenyon	6–3	Guelph
1995	Mike Sobala	Gerard Morrison	7–3	Vancouver
1996	Ben Reicker	Ray Saunders	8–4	Saskatoon
1997	Kirk Stevens	Charlie Brown	6–3	Saint John
1998	Kirk Stevens	Tom Finstad	7–3	Halifax
1999	Jim Wych	Tom Finstad	6–4	Saint John
2000	Kirk Stevens	Bob Chaperon	6–3	Guelph
2001	Cliff Thorburn	Tom Finstad	4–3	Vaughan
2002	Kirk Stevens	Cliff Thorburn	6–1	Saint John
2003	Alain Robidoux	Cliff Thorburn	6–2	Halifax
2004	Alain Robidoux	Tom Finstad	6–2	Montreal
2005 [9]	Tom Finstad	John White	6–4	Montreal
2006 [10]	Alain Robidoux	John White	6–2	Markham
2007 [11]	Floyd Ziegler	Tom Finstad	6–0	Ottawa
2008 [12]	Kirk Stevens	Tom Finstad	6–2	Toronto
2009 [13]	Alain Robidoux	John White	6–1	Toronto
2010 [14]	Floyd Ziegler	Fern Loyer	6–3	Toronto
2011 [15]	Alex Pagulayan	Floyd Ziegler	6–0	Toronto
2012 [16]	Alex Pagulayan	Tom Finstad	6–3	Toronto
2013	Floyd Ziegler	Jason Williams	6–2	Toronto
2014 [17]	Alan Whitfield	Floyd Ziegler	6–1	Toronto
2015 [18]	John White	Floyd Ziegler	6–2	Toronto
2016 [19]	Rodney Cuillèrier	Floyd Ziegler	7–4	Saint-Lambert
2017 [20]	John White	Fern Loyer	7–5	Toronto
2018 [21]	Brady Gollan	Alan Whitfield	6–4	Toronto
2019 [22]	Bob Chaperon	Lobsang Lama	6–5	Toronto
2020	Tournament Not Held
2021
2022 [1]	Vito Puopolo	Alan Whitfield	5–3	Toronto
2023 [23]	Jason Williams	Floyd Ziegler	5–1	Toronto

Finalists

Rank	Name	Winner	Runner-up	Finals
1	Alain Robidoux	7	0	7
2	Cliff Thorburn	6	2	8
3	Kirk Stevens	6	0	6
4	Tom Finstad	3	8	11
5	Floyd Ziegler	3	4	7
6	John White	3	3	6
7	Bob Chaperon	2	1	3
8	Brady Gollan	2	0	2
8	Paul Thornley	2	0	2
8	Jim Wych	2	0	2
8	Alex Pagulayan	2	0	2
12	Bill Werbeniuk	1	2	3
12	Alan Whitfield	1	2	3
14	Gary Natale	1	1	2
14	Mike Sobala	1	1	2
16	Winnie McKinley	1	0	1
16	Jim Bear	1	0	1
16	Brian McConnell	1	0	1
16	Ed Galati	1	0	1
16	Chris Woods	1	0	1
16	Daryl Wouters	1	0	1
16	Kirk Clouthier	1	0	1
16	Ben Reicker	1	0	1
16	Rodney Cuillèrier	1	0	1
16	Vito Puopolo	1	0	1
26	Robert Paquette	0	6	6
27	Fern Loyer	0	3	3
28	Jeff White	0	2	2
29	Lobsang Lama	0	1	1
29	Julien St. Denis	0	1	1
29	Carey Lorraine	0	1	1
29	Claude Smith	0	1	1
29	Larry Firth	0	1	1
29	John Bear	0	1	1
29	Tom Matsui	0	1	1
29	John Kenyon	0	1	1
29	Gerard Morrison	0	1	1
29	Ray Saunders	0	1	1
29	Charlie Brown	0	1	1
29	Frank Kissner	0	1	1
29	Jason Williams	1	1	2

References

1. "Puopolo is Champion in Canada".
2. "CBSA Past Champions". cbsa.ca. Canadian Billiards & Snooker Association. Archived from the original on 2010-04-20. Retrieved 5 December 2014.
3. "Canadian Amateur Snooker Champions". cbsa.ca. snookerline.com. Archived from the original on 29 May 2010. Retrieved 5 December 2014.
4. "Thornley in a class of his own". Billiards and Snooker. Billiards Association and Control Council. July 1969. p. 9.
5. "Jim Wych knock off champion". Ottawa Citizen. Archived from the original on 18 October 2020. Retrieved 5 December 2014.
6. "Jim Bear triumphs". Ottawa Citizen. Ottawa. 29 September 1980. p. 37.
7. "Miscellany". The Gazette. Montreal. 27 April 1982. p. 21.
8. "Miscellany". The Gazette. Montreal. 20 June 1989. p. 20.
9. "2005 Canadian Amateur Snooker Championship" (PDF). snookerline.com. Retrieved 5 December 2014.^{[ permanent dead link ‍]}
10. "2006 Canadian Amateur Snooker Championship" (PDF). snookerline.com. Retrieved 5 December 2014.^{[ permanent dead link ‍]}
11. "2007 Canadian Amateur Snooker Championship" (PDF). snookerline.com. Retrieved 5 December 2014.^{[ permanent dead link ‍]}
12. "2008 Canadian Amateur Snooker Championship" (PDF). snookerline.com. Retrieved 5 December 2014.^{[ permanent dead link ‍]}
13. "2009 Canadian Amateur Snooker Championship" (PDF). snookerline.com. Retrieved 5 December 2014.^{[ permanent dead link ‍]}
14. "2010 Canadian Amateur Snooker Championship" (PDF). snookerline.com. Retrieved 5 December 2014.^{[ permanent dead link ‍]}
15. "2011 Canadian Amateur Snooker Championship" (PDF). snookerline.com. Retrieved 5 December 2014.^{[ permanent dead link ‍]}
16. "Final Day of the Canadian Championships". thepoolscene.com. Archived from the original on 9 December 2014. Retrieved 5 December 2014.
17. "Whitfield wins Canadian Snooker Championships". thepoolscene.com. Archived from the original on 9 December 2014. Retrieved 5 December 2014.
18. "2015 Canadian Snooker Championships". Canadian Billiards & Snooker Association. Archived from the original on 26 September 2015. Retrieved 5 August 2015.
19. "2016 Canadian Snooker Championships". Canadian Billiards & Snooker Association. Archived from the original on 7 February 2017. Retrieved 5 August 2016.
20. CompuSport. "CompuSport - 2017 Canadian Snooker Championships". CompuSport. Archived from the original on 2020-10-18. Retrieved 2017-05-26.
21. "Gollan Scratches 30-Year Canadian Itch". thecueview.com. Archived from the original on 2018-05-26. Retrieved 2018-05-26.
22. "Chaperon Is Canadian Snooker Champion Again". worldsnookerfederation.com. 2019-05-22.
23. "Williams Wins Canadian Snooker Championship". wpbsa.com. 2023-06-14.