John Stephen ParrottMBE (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[update] 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.[2] Parrott grew up with his aunt and uncle following a split between his parents when he was 4.[3]:10 He was a keen bowls player until the age of 11,[4] as he was first introduced to snooker by his father.[3]:16[5] He lost in the final of the English Under-16s Championship in 1979 and then again in 1980.[6][7][3]:34–37 The next year, he won the 1981 Pontins Junior Championship. In 1982, he won the Pontins Open, a tournament with over 1,000 entrants.[3]:44 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,[8] and finishing as runner-up in the English Amateur Championship.[9][10]
Professional career
Parrott turned professional in 1983, aged 19, making his televised debut as a professional during the last 16 of the 1984 Classic.[3]:20 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 .[11][12] 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.[3]:54 In 1987, Parrott was placed within the top 16 in the world for the first time.[3]:54
He also reached the final to play Davis at the 1989 World Snooker Championship.[3]:59–61 In the first to 18 match, Parrott trailed 2–5,[14] but won only one more frame in the match, losing 3–18.[15] The loss was the largest in any World Championship final.[16] With the match finishing early, Parrott had to play an exhibition match in place of the final session.[17] Parrott finished the season at his highest world ranking, second to Davis.[18]
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.[23] He took a 7–0 lead, winning the match 18–11.[23] Following the World Championship win, Parrott won both the 1991 Dubai Classic over Knowles and his second Triple Crown event - the 1991 UK Championship.[24] He once again played White in the final, defeating him 16–13.[25] He was just the third person to win hold both the UK and World Championships sequentially.[26] Parrott finished the 1991-92 season once again to World Number two.[27]
In 1992, Parrott reached four major finals. He retained the Dubai Classic, defeating Hendry on a deciding frame ,[28] but lost both the UK Championship and Masters to White and Hendry, respectively.[29][30] 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.[31] Parrott also reached the final of the 1992 Strachan Open losing to James Wattana.[32]He finished the season again in second in the world rankings for the third and final time.[33]
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.[38] 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.[4] He captained the England team that won the 2000 Nations Cup.[39]
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.[43] Later Parrott announced he was to retire from the professional game.[44]
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.[47] 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".[48] 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.[49]
In 1996, Parrott was honoured with an MBE in the Queen's Birthday Honours list, for charitable services in Merseyside.[54] In 2008, he launched John Parrott Cue Sports, an online retailer selling snooker and pool cues and some snooker collectables.[55] This was re-branded John Parrott Sports in 2019.[56] Parrott is a supporter of Everton F.C. and brother-in-law of former Everton player Duncan Ferguson.[57] Parrott was made the Honorary Patron of the British Crown Green Bowling Association in 2010.[58]
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.
↑ From the 2010/2011 season it shows the ranking at the beginning of the season.
↑ New players on the Main Tour do not have a ranking.
↑ The event run under different names as Professional Players Tournament (1983/1984) and the LG Cup (2001/2002–2003/2004)
↑ The event run under different name as China International (1997/1998–1998/1999)
↑ The event was also called the Professional Snooker League (1983/1984), Matchroom League (1986/1987-1991/1992) and European League (1992/1993-1996/1997
1 2 The event also ran as the Australian Masters (1983/1984–1987/1988 & 1995/1996)
↑ The event ran under different names such as Thailand Classic (1995/1996) and Asian Classic (1996/1997)
1 2 The event run under different name as German Open (1995/1996–1997/1998)
↑ The event ran under different names such as Asian Open (1989/1990 to 1992/1993) and Thailand Open (1993/1994 to 1996/1997).
↑ The event ran under different names such as International Open (1983/1984 to 1984/1985, 1986/1987 to 1996/1997), Goya Matchroom Trophy (1985/1986) and Players Championship (2003/2004).
↑ The event was also known as the International Masters (1983/1984).
↑ The event ran under different names such as the Irish Open (1998/1999) and Malta Cup (2004/2005–2007/2008)
↑ The event also ran as the Carlsberg Challenge (1984/1985–1986/1987) and the Carling Challenge (1987/1988)
↑ The event was also called the Hong Kong Masters (1983/1984–1988/1989)
↑ The event was also called the Kent Cup (1986/1987–1987/1988 & 1989/1990–1990/1991)
↑ The event ran under a different name as the Charity Challenge (1994/1995–1998/1999)
1 2 Final decided on aggregate score over two frames
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References
Citations
1 2 "John Parrott". Snooker.org. Archived from the original on 30 November 2023. Retrieved 13 February 2024.
↑ Turner, Chris. "UK Championship". cajt.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk. Chris Turner's Snooker Archive. Archived from the original on 16 February 2012. Retrieved 1 March 2011.
↑ Hendon, David (9 November 2004). "Obituary: Eddie Charlton". The Independent. Archived from the original on 13 June 2022. Retrieved 29 November 2019.
↑ "Sport in brief: snooker". The Guardian. London. 7 June 1982. p.21.
Books
Hayton, Eric; Dee, John (2004). The CueSport Book of Professional Snooker: The Complete Record & History. Lowestoft: Rose Villa Publications. ISBN978-0-9548549-0-4.
Morrison, Ian (1987). The Hamlyn Encyclopedia of Snooker (Reviseded.). Twickenham: Hamlyn Publishing Group. ISBN978-0-600-55604-6.
Morrison, Ian (1988). Hamlyn Who's Who in Snooker. London: Hamlyn. ISBN978-0-600-55713-5.
O'Sullivan, Ronnie (2003). Ronnie: the Autobiography of Ronnie O'Sullivan. Orion Media. ISBN9780224061490.
Williams, Luke; Gadsby, Paul (2005). Masters of the Baize. Edinburgh: Mainstream. ISBN978-1-84018-872-1.
Further reading
Parrott, John (1991). Right on Cue: an Autobiography. London: Robson Books Ltd. ISBN0-86051-778-0.
External links
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