John Parrott

John Stephen Parrott (born 11 May 1964) is an English former professional snooker player, who won the 1991 World Snooker Championship. He rose to prominence in the mid to late 1980s and remained within the of the world rankings for fourteen consecutive seasons.

He twice reached the final of the World Snooker Championship. In 1989, he lost 318 to Steve Davis, the heaviest defeat in a world championship final in modern times. In 1991, he beat Jimmy White 1811 to claim his first, and only, world title. Later the same year, he defeated White again to win the 1991 UK Championship title. This made Parrott the third player ever to win both championships in the same calendar year (after Steve Davis and Stephen Hendry); he is one of only six players to have achieved this feat. The following year, he lost to White in the final of the 1992 UK Championship. Parrott reached the final of the Masters on three occasions, losing to Hendry each time.

He reached his highest position of second in the world rankings in 198990, 199293, and 199394. He is one of several players to have achieved more than 200 competitive century breaks during his career, with 221. Following his playing career, Parrott became a commentator and pundit for the BBC. In addition, he was a regular team captain on the 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 12, as he was first introduced to snooker by his father. He lost in the final of the British Under-16s Championship in 1979 and then again in 1980. He turned professional in 1983 after winning 14 tournaments in his last year as an amateur player, including the 1983 Junior Pot Black title, and finishing as runner-up in the English Amateur Championship.

Professional career World championship win (1983–1991) Parrott turned professional in 1983, aged 19, making his televised debut as a professional during the last 16 of the 1984 Classic. Parrott qualified for the World Snooker Championship on his first attempt, losing only five frames in qualification for the 1984 World Snooker Championship. He defeated Knowles, but lost in the quarter-finals to Dennis Taylor. He finished his first professional season ranked 20th in the world. The following season, Parrott was runner-up in a number of professional events. He lost again to Davis in the final of the 1988 World Matchplay and second to him at the 1989 Matchroom League, to Stephen Hendry in the final of the invitational 1989 Masters and 1989 London Masters, and to Mike Hallett at the 1989 English Professional Championship. but won only one more frame in the match, losing 318. 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 placement in the snooker world rankings, second in the world, only behind Davis.

Parrott won his first ranking title at the 1989 European Open, defeating Terry Griffiths in the final 98. He successfully defended his title at the 1990 event, defeating Hendry 106 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 1116 to Hendry.

Parrott reached the final of the World Championship again in 1991. Defeating Nigel Gilbert, Knowles, Griffiths and Davis, he played Jimmy White in the final. He took a 70 lead, winning the match 1811. He also won his second Triple Crown event - the 1991 UK Championship. After defeating David McDonnell, Willie Thorne, Dean Reynolds and James Wattana, he met White in the final, defeating him 1613. He was just the third person to win hold both the UK and World Championships sequentially. Parrott finished the 199192 season once again second in the world rankings.

Later career (1992–2000)

In 1992, Parrott reached four major finals. He retained the Dubai Classic, defeating Hendry on a , 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 and World Championships, he was unable to complete the Triple Crown during his career. 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. At the 1992 World Snooker Championship, he was the first player to conduct a "" in the final stages of the World Championship at the Crucible, when he defeated Eddie Charlton 10–0 in the first round. 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. In defence of his World Championship, Parrott reached the quarter-final, losing to Alan McManus 12–13.

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. The following season, Parrott won the 1995 Thailand Classic for the third time, defeating Nigel Bond in the final. Parrott reached the final of the European Open for a fourth time, winning the 1996 European Open with a victory in the final over Peter Ebdon. 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 the 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. Parrott captained an England team at the 2000 Nations Cup made up of O'Sullivan, Stephen Lee and White which won the event, defeating the Welsh team 64.

Retirement and legacy 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 to qualify, he defeated Steve Davis. He lost to Shaun Murphy in the last 16 and never appeared in the final stages of the event again. Following his 6–10 defeat to young Chinese player Zhang Anda in the qualification for the 2010 event, Parrott finished outside the top 64 in the end of season rankings and was not assured a place on the main tour for the 201011 season. Later Parrott announced he was to retire from the professional game. Parrott finished his career with 221 century breaks.

Following his professional career, Parrott entered 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 as an amateur losing 0–5 to Patrick Wallace in Round one. He reached the semi-finals of the 2015 World Seniors Championship, losing to professional player Mark Williams 02. He reached the final of the 2017 World Seniors Championship losing 03 to Peter Lines. Parrott retired from the seniors tour after the 2022 World Seniors Championship, with a parade with the World Snooker Championship after the event.

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", 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 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

Performance Table LegendLQ 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-finalsSF lost in the semi-finalsF lost in the finalW won the tournamentDNQ did not qualify for the tournamentA did not participate in the tournamentWD 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)

+Ranking event finals contested by John ParrottOutcomeNo.YearChampionshipOpponent in the finalScoreRunner-up 1. 1988 The Classic Steve Davis11–13 Winner 1. 1989 European Open Terry Griffiths9–8 Runner-up 2. 1989 World Snooker Championship Steve Davis3–18 Winner 2. 1990 European Open (2) Stephen Hendry10–6 Winner 3. 1991 World Snooker Championship Jimmy White18–11 Winner 4. 1991 Dubai Classic Tony Knowles9–3 Winner 5. 1991 UK Championship Jimmy White16–13 Runner-up 3. 1992 Strachan Open James Wattana5–9 Winner 6. 1992 Dubai Classic (2) Stephen Hendry9–8 Runner-up 4. 1992 UK Championship Jimmy White9–16 Winner 7. 1994 International Open James Wattana9–5 Runner-up 5. 1994 European Open Stephen Hendry3–9 Winner 8. 1995 Thailand Classic (3) Nigel Bond9–6 Runner-up 6. 1996 Welsh Open Mark Williams3–9 Winner 9. 1996 European Open (3) Peter Ebdon9–7 Runner-up 7. 1997 European Open (2) John Higgins5–9 Runner-up 8. 1997 German Open John Higgins4–9 Runner-up 9. 1998 Thailand Masters Stephen Hendry6–9

Non-ranking finals: 23 (9 titles) + Legend The Masters (0–3) Premier League (0–2) Other (9–9)

+Non-ranking finals contested by John ParrottOutcomeNo.YearChampionshipOpponent in the finalScoreWinner 1. 1982 Zimbabwe Open 6–5 Winner 2. 1983 Zimbabwe Open 7–1 Winner 3. 1988 Kent Cup 5–1 Winner 4. 1988 Pontins Professional9–1 Runner-up 1. 1988 World Matchplay 5–9 Runner-up 2. 1989 The Masters 6–9 Runner-up 3. 1989 English Professional Championship7–9 Runner-up 4. 1989 Matchroom League Runner-up 5. 1989 London Masters2–4 Runner-up 6. 1989 World Matchplay (2)9–18 Runner-up 7. 1990 The Masters (2)4–9 Runner-up 8. 1990 London Masters (2)2–4 Winner 5. 1990 Belgian Masters9–6 Winner 6. 1990 Norwich Union Grand Prix4–2 Runner-up 9. 1991 Irish Masters5–9 Runner-up 10. 1991 Indian Challenge 5–9 Runner-up 11. 1992 The Masters (3) 4–9 Winner 7. 1992 Kent Classic 6–5 Runner-up 12. 1992 Belgian Masters5–10 Runner-up 13. 1994 European League (2)7–10 Winner 8. 1994 Malta Grand Prix7–6 Runner-up 14. 1995 Red & White Challenge6–8 Winner 9. 1998 German Masters6–4

Team finals: 1 (1 title) +Team event finals contested by ParrottOutcomeNo.YearChampionshipTeamOpponent in the finalScoreWinner 1. 2000 Nations Cup 6–4 Runner-up 1. 1985 Pontins Spring Open 6–7 Runner-up 2. 1979 Pontins Junior Championship1–3 Runner-up 3. 1980 British Under-16 Championship (2)1–3 Winner 1. 1981 Pontins Junior Championship3–1 Runner-up 4. 1982 British Under-19 Championship2–3 Winner 2. 1982 Junior Pot Black 156–70 Runner-up 5. 1983 English Amateur Championship 9–13 Winner 3. 1983 Junior Pot Black (2)

Seniors finals: 1

+Seniors finals contested by John ParrottOutcomeNo.YearChampionshipOpponent in the finalScoreRunner-up 1. 2017 World Seniors Championship0–4