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John Parrott
MBE
John Parrott2.jpg
Parrott in October 2008
Born (1964-05-11) 11 May 1964 (age 60)
Liverpool, England
Sport country  England
Professional 1983–2010
Highest ranking 2 (1989/90, 1992/93–1993/94)
Tournament wins
Ranking 9
World Champion 1991

John Stephen Parrott MBE (born 11 May 1964) is an English former professional snooker player who won the 1991 World Snooker Championship. He was a professional during the late 1980s and 1990s, and remained within the top 16 of the world rankings for 14 consecutive seasons. Following his playing career, he is also a snooker commentator and pundit.

He twice reached the final of the World Snooker Championship. At the 1989 World Snooker Championship, he lost 3–18 to Steve Davis, the heaviest defeat in a world championship final in modern times. Two years later, however, he defeated Jimmy White in the final of the 1991 event. He also won against White later the same year, to win the 1991 UK Championship title. This made him only the third player to win both championships in the same calendar year (after Steve Davis and Stephen Hendry); he is still one of only six players to have achieved this feat. The following year, Parrott lost in the final of the 1992 UK Championship, again to White. Parrott reached the final of the Masters on three occasions, losing to Hendry each time.

Parrott reached his highest place in the world rankings in 1989–90, 1992–93, 1993–94 where he was second. He is one of several players to have achieved more than 200 competitive century break during his career, with 221. Following his playing career, Parrott became a commentator and pundit for the BBC. In addition, he also presented horse racing and was a regular on BBC quiz show A Question of Sport.

Early life and career

John Parrott was born on 11 May 1964 at the Oxford Street Maternity Hospital, Liverpool. Parrott grew up with his aunt and uncle following a split between his parents when he was 4. He was a keen bowls player until the age of 11, as he was first introduced to snooker by his father. He lost in the final of the English Under-16s Championship in 1979 and then again in 1980. The next year, he won the 1981 Pontins Junior Championship. In 1982, he won the Pontins Open, a tournament with over 1,000 entrants. The same year, he also won the televised Junior Pot Black championship. He turned professional in 1983 after winning 14 tournaments in his last year as an amateur player, including a second Junior Pot Black title, and finishing as runner-up in the English Amateur Championship.

Professional career

Parrott turned professional in 1983, aged 19, making his televised debut as a professional during the last 16 of the 1984 Classic. In the match, he defeated Alex Higgins 5–2. He then beat Tony Knowles in the next round before losing to Steve Davis in the semi-finals on a deciding frame. Parrott qualified for the World Snooker Championship on the first attempt, losing only three frames in qualification. He defeated Knowles, but lost in the quarter-finals to Dennis Taylor. He finished his first professional season ranked 20th in the world. In 1987, Parrott was placed within the top 16 in the world for the first time.

At the 1988 Classic, Parrott reached his first ranking event final. Despite leading 11‍–‍10, he lost 11‍–‍13 to Steve Davis. The following season, Parrott was runner-up in four events. He lost again to Davis in the final of the 1988 World Matchplay, to Stephen Hendry in the final of the invitational 1989 Masters, to Mike Hallett at the 1989 English Professional Championship.

He also reached the final to play Davis at the 1989 World Snooker Championship. In the first to 18 match, Parrott trailed 2‍–‍5, but won only one more frame in the match, losing 3‍–‍18. The loss was the largest in any World Championship final. With the match finishing early, Parrott had to play an exhibition match in place of the final session. Parrott finished the season at his highest world ranking, second to Davis.

Parrott won his first ranking title at the 1989 European Open, defeating Terry Griffiths in the final 9‍–‍8. He successfully defended his title at the 1990 event, defeating Stephen Hendry 10‍–‍6 in the final. Parrott reached the final of the 1990 Masters for a second time, losing again to Hendry. He finished the season at the 1990 World Snooker Championship losing in the semi-final 11‍–‍16 to Hendry.

Parrott reached the final of the World Championship again in 1991. Defeating Nigel Gilbert, Tony Knowles, Griffiths and Davis, he played Jimmy White in the final. He took a 7‍–‍0 lead, winning the match 18‍–‍11. Following the World Championship win, Parrott won both the 1991 Dubai Classic over Knowles and his second Triple Crown event - the 1991 UK Championship. He once again played White in the final, defeating him 16‍–‍13. He was just the third person to win hold both the UK and World Championships sequentially. Parrott finished the 1991-92 season once again to World Number two.

In 1992, Parrott reached four major finals. He retained the Dubai Classic, defeating Hendry on a deciding frame, but lost both the UK Championship and Masters to White and Hendry, respectively. This was the last time Parrott reached the final of the Masters. Having won both the UK Championship, he was unable to complete the Triple Crown. Parrott also reached the final of the 1992 Strachan Open losing to James Wattana.He finished the season again in second in the world rankings for the third and final time.

The following season, Parrott won the 1994 International Open, defeating Wattana in the final. Later in 1994, he reached the final of the European Open for the third time, this time losing to Hendry. Parrott would, however, win the European Open the following season with a victory in the final over Peter Ebdon. The same season, Parrott won the 1995 Thailand Classic for the third time, defeating Nigel Bond in the final.

Over the next two seasons, Parrott reached the final of three more rankings events. He lost the 1997 European Open, 1997 German Open finals both to John Higgins and 1998 Thailand Masters to Hendry. This was the last ranking event final of Parrotts career. He spent 14 consecutive seasons in the top 16 of the snooker world rankings, from 1987 until 2001, 11 of which were in the top 6. He captained the England team that won the 2000 Nations Cup.

At the 2007 World Snooker Championship he reached the last 16 of the World Championship for the first time since 2000, after victories over James Leadbetter, David Gray and Steve Davis (10–9, having led 6–1 and 9–6). He was also the first player to conduct a "whitewash" in the Crucible World Championship final stages, when he defeated Eddie Charlton 10–0 in the first round of the 1992 tournament. For 27 years, he held the record for being the only player ever to achieve this, until Shaun Murphy defeated China's Luo Honghao 10–0 in the first round of the 2019 World Championship.

Following his 6–10 defeat to young Chinese player Zhang Anda in the 2010 World Championship Qualifiers, Parrott finished outside the top 64 in the end of season rankings and was not assured a place on the main tour for the 2010–11 season. Later Parrott announced he was to retire from the professional game.

Parrott played in the 2011 World Seniors Championship, where he lost in the semi-finals to Davis. He also participated in the preliminary qualifying rounds of the 2012 World Snooker Championship losing 0–5 to Patrick Wallace in Round 1.

Ronnie O'Sullivan wrote that he considered Parrott to be a "great match player [with] plenty of bottle" that, before the emergence of the "Class of '92 (snooker)", was the only player that would go "toe to toe" with Hendry. In their 2005 book Masters of the Baize, Luke Williams and Paul Gadsby described Parrott as a "solid and belligerent player, with a delightfully smooth cue action". Robert Philip of The Daily Telegraph wrote approvingly in 2007 of how Parrott had prioritised his family above playing, and speculated that had he not done so, Parrott could have won further world championships.

Television

Following his playing career, Parrott became a pundit and commentator on snooker for BBC Sport. From 1996 to 2002, he was one of the team captains on the BBC quiz show A Question of Sport, alongside association football player Ally McCoist. As a supporter of horse racing, he was involved in the BBC's horse racing coverage as part of the presenting team.

Personal life

In 1996, Parrott was honoured with an MBE in the Queen's Birthday Honours list, for charitable services in Merseyside. In 2008, he launched John Parrott Cue Sports, an online retailer selling snooker and pool cues and some snooker collectables. This was re-branded John Parrott Sports in 2019. Parrott is a supporter of Everton F.C. and brother-in-law of former Everton player Duncan Ferguson. Parrott was made the Honorary Patron of the British Crown Green Bowling Association in 2010.

Performance and rankings timeline

Tournament 1983/
84
1984/
85
1985/
86
1986/
87
1987/
88
1988/
89
1989/
90
1990/
91
1991/
92
1992/
93
1993/
94
1994/
95
1995/
96
1996/
97
1997/
98
1998/
99
1999/
00
2000/
01
2001/
02
2002/
03
2003/
04
2004/
05
2005/
06
2006/
07
2007/
08
2008/
09
2009/
10
Ranking 20 18 17 13 7 2 3 4 2 2 5 4 4 6 6 5 10 22 18 30 31 29 42 39 39 53
Ranking tournaments
Shanghai Masters Tournament Not Held LQ A LQ
Grand Prix 2R 2R 1R 2R SF 2R 3R QF 1R 2R SF 1R 1R SF QF 2R 2R 2R 2R 1R SF 1R 1R LQ LQ 2R LQ
UK Championship NR 1R 2R SF QF QF 3R SF W F SF QF 3R QF 2R QF 2R 2R 2R 1R 1R QF 1R 1R LQ WD LQ
Welsh Open Tournament Not Held SF QF 2R 1R F SF QF 2R 1R 1R LQ LQ 2R 3R 1R 1R 1R LQ LQ
China Open Tournament Not Held NR QF 1R 2R 1R Not Held LQ LQ LQ LQ WD LQ
World Championship 2R QF 2R 2R 2R F SF W QF QF QF QF 1R QF QF QF 2R 1R 1R 1R 1R LQ 1R 2R LQ LQ LQ
Non-ranking tournaments
Premier League A Not Held A A F RR A RR SF F RR RR RR A A A A A A A A A A A A A
The Masters A A A A SF F F QF F QF 1R 1R QF QF 1R 1R SF QF A A A A LQ A A A A
Former ranking tournaments
Canadian Masters Not Held Non-Ranking QF Tournament Not Held
Hong Kong Open Non-Ranking Event NH 2R Not Held NR Tournament Not Held
Classic SF LQ 1R QF F QF 3R 2R QF Tournament Not Held
Strachan Open Tournament Not Held F Tournament Not Held
Dubai Classic Tournament Not Held NR SF 2R W W 2R 1R W 1R Tournament Not Held
German Masters Tournament Not Held 2R 1R F NR Tournament Not Held
Malta Grand Prix Tournament Not Held Non-Ranking Event QF NR Tournament Not Held
Thailand Masters Non-Ranking Event Not Held WD QF 3R QF 2R 2R QF QF F SF 1R SF 1R NR Not Held NR Not Held
Scottish Open A LQ QF 1R 3R 1R QF Not Held 2R W SF 1R QF 2R 3R 1R 3R 2R 1R 3R Tournament Not Held
British Open NR 2R 3R 1R SF SF 1R 1R 1R 3R 3R SF QF 1R QF QF 2R 2R 2R 3R 1R 2R Tournament Not Held
Irish Masters Non-Ranking Event LQ LQ LQ NH NR Not Held
European Open Tournament Not Held W W 1R SF 2R SF F W F NR SF Not Held LQ LQ LQ LQ 1R LQ NR Not Held
Northern Ireland Trophy Tournament Not Held NR LQ 1R LQ NH
Bahrain Championship Tournament Not Held LQ NH
Former non-ranking tournaments
UK Championship 1R Tournament Not Held
Canadian Masters Not Held QF A A R Tournament Not Held
Hong Kong Open A A SF A QF NH R Not Held A A Tournament Not Held
Fosters Professional NH A SF A A SF Tournament Not Held
Pontins Professional A QF QF SF W QF A A A A A A A A A A A Tournament Not Held
English Professional Championship NH 2R 2R QF 2R F Tournament Not Held
New Zealand Masters NH A Not Held A QF Tournament Not Held
Norwich Union Grand Prix Tournament Not Held A SF W Tournament Not Held
World Masters Tournament Not Held 2R Tournament Not Held
London Masters Tournament Not Held F F SF Tournament Not Held
Thailand Masters A RR A A Not Held SF Ranking Event A Not Held A Not Held
European Challenge Tournament Not Held QF A Tournament Not Held
Hong Kong Challenge A QF A A A QF NH A QF Tournament Not Held
Indian Challenge Tournament Not Held F Tournament Not Held
Belgian Challenge Tournament Not Held QF Tournament Not Held
Kent Classic Not Held A W A A A NH W Tournament Not Held
Belgian Masters Tournament Not Held W SF F Not Held A Tournament Not Held
World Matchplay Tournament Not Held F F QF QF QF Tournament Not Held
Nescafe Extra Challenge Tournament Not Held A NH RR Tournament Not Held
Pot Black A 1R 1R Tournament Not Held QF SF 1R Tournament Not Held A A A Not Held
Malta Grand Prix Tournament Not Held W A A A A R A Tournament Not Held
Red & White Challenge Tournament Not Held F Tournament Not Held
German Masters Tournament Not Held Ranking Event W Tournament Not Held
Champions Cup Tournament Not Held QF QF QF QF 1R RR A A Tournament Not Held
Scottish Masters A A A QF A NH SF QF QF QF QF 1R 1R SF SF QF QF A A A Tournament Not Held
Irish Masters A A A A A SF QF F SF SF QF SF 1R QF SF 1R SF A A Ranking Event A Tournament Not Held
Performance Table Legend
LQ 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-finals
SF lost in the semi-finals F lost in the final W won the tournament
DNQ did not qualify for the tournament A did not participate in the tournament WD 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.
PA / Pro-am Event means an event is/was a pro-am event.

Career finals

Ranking finals: 18 (9 titles)

Legend
World Championship (1–1)
UK Championship (1–1)
Other (7–7)
Outcome No. Year Championship Opponent in the final Score
Runner-up 1. 1988 The Classic England Steve Davis 11–13
Winner 1. 1989 European Open Wales Terry Griffiths 9–8
Runner-up 2. 1989 World Snooker Championship England Steve Davis 3–18
Winner 2. 1990 European Open (2) Scotland Stephen Hendry 10–6
Winner 3. 1991 World Snooker Championship England Jimmy White 18–11
Winner 4. 1991 Dubai Classic England Tony Knowles 9–3
Winner 5. 1991 UK Championship England Jimmy White 16–13
Runner-up 3. 1992 Strachan Open Thailand James Wattana 5–9
Winner 6. 1992 Dubai Classic (2) Scotland Stephen Hendry 9–8
Runner-up 4. 1992 UK Championship England Jimmy White 9–16
Winner 7. 1994 International Open Thailand James Wattana 9–5
Runner-up 5. 1994 European Open Scotland Stephen Hendry 3–9
Winner 8. 1995 Thailand Classic (3) England Nigel Bond 9–6
Runner-up 6. 1996 Welsh Open Wales Mark Williams 3–9
Winner 9. 1996 European Open (3) England Peter Ebdon 9–7
Runner-up 7. 1997 European Open (2) Scotland John Higgins 5–9
Runner-up 8. 1997 German Open Scotland John Higgins 4–9
Runner-up 9. 1998 Thailand Masters Scotland Stephen Hendry 6–9

Non-ranking finals: 22 (7 titles)

Non-ranking finals contested by John Parrott
Outcome No. Year Championship Opponent in the final Score
Winner 1. 1988 Kent Cup  Martin Clark (ENG) 5–1
Winner 2. 1988 Pontins Professional  Mike Hallett (ENG) 9–1
Runner-up 1. 1988 World Matchplay  Steve Davis (ENG) 5–9
Runner-up 2. 1989 The Masters  Stephen Hendry (SCO) 6–9
Runner-up 3. 1989 English Professional Championship  Mike Hallett (ENG) 7–9
Runner-up 4. 1989 Matchroom League  Steve Davis (ENG) Round-Robin
Runner-up 5. 1989 London Masters  Stephen Hendry (SCO) 2–4
Runner-up 6. 1989 World Matchplay (2)  Jimmy White (ENG) 9–18
Runner-up 7. 1990 The Masters (2)  Stephen Hendry (SCO) 4–9
Runner-up 8. 1990 London Masters (2)  Stephen Hendry (SCO) 2–4
Winner 3. 1990 Belgian Masters  Jimmy White (ENG) 9–6
Winner 4. 1990 Norwich Union Grand Prix  Steve Davis (ENG) 4–2
Runner-up 9. 1991 Irish Masters  Steve Davis (ENG) 5–9
Runner-up 10. 1991 Indian Challenge  Stephen Hendry (SCO) 5–9
Runner-up 11. 1992 The Masters (3)  Stephen Hendry (SCO) 4–9
Winner 5. 1992 Kent Classic  Stephen Hendry (SCO) 6–5
Runner-up 12. 1992 Belgian Masters  James Wattana (THA) 5–10
Runner-up 13. 1994 European League (2)  Stephen Hendry (SCO) 7–10
Winner 6. 1994 Malta Grand Prix  Tony Drago (MLT) 7–6
Runner-up 14. 1995 Red & White Challenge  Nigel Bond (ENG) 6–8
Winner 7. 1998 German Masters  Mark Williams (WAL) 6–4
Runner-up 15. 2017 World Seniors Championship  Peter Lines (ENG) 0–4

Team finals: 1 (1 title)

Outcome No. Year Championship Team Opponent(s) in the final Score
Winner 1. 2000 Nations Cup  England  Wales 6–4

Pro-am finals: 3 (2 titles)

Pro-am finals contested by John Parrott
Outcome No. Year Championship Opponent in the final Score
Winner 1. 1982 Pontins Spring Open  Ray Reardon (WAL) 7–4
Runner-up 1. 1985 Pontins Spring Open  Jim Chambers (ENG) 6–7
Winner 2. 1986 Pontins Spring Open (2)  Tony Putnam (ENG) 7–6

Amateur finals: 8 (3 titles)

Amateur snooker finals contested by John Parrott
Outcome No. Year Championship Opponent in the final Score
Runner-up 1. 1979 British Under-16 Championship  Tony Pyle (ENG) 2–3
Runner-up 2. 1979 Pontins Junior Championship  Dave Gilbert (ENG) 1–3
Runner-up 3. 1980 British Under-16 Championship (2)  Terry Whitthread (ENG) 1–3
Winner 1. 1981 Pontins Junior Championship  Don Tate (ENG) 3–1
Runner-up 4. 1982 British Under-19 Championship  Neal Foulds (ENG) 2–3
Winner 2. 1982 Junior Pot Black  John Keers (ENG) 156–70
Runner-up 5. 1983 English Amateur Championship  Tony Jones (ENG) 9–13
Winner 3. 1983 Junior Pot Black (2)  Steve Ventham (ENG)

See also

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