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John Parrott
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John Parrott MBE (born 11 May 1964 in Liverpool, England) is an English professional snooker player.
He won the World Snooker Championship in 1991, defeating Jimmy White in the final. Two years earlier he had lost 18-3 to Steve Davis, the heaviest final defeat in modern times. He repeated his win over White to add the UK Championship title later that year, one of only 3 players to achieve this .
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Encyclopedia
John Parrott MBE (born 11 May 1964 in Liverpool, England) is an English professional snooker player.
He won the World Snooker Championship in 1991, defeating Jimmy White in the final. Two years earlier he had lost 18-3 to Steve Davis, the heaviest final defeat in modern times. He repeated his win over White to add the UK Championship title later that year, one of only 3 players to achieve this . He spent 3 successive seasons at #2 in the World Rankings. Parrott has compiled 217 competitive centuries during his career, 8th on the all time list.
Early career
Until the age of 12 John Parrott was a keen bowls player but then discovered snooker and has been a keen player ever since. At the age of 15 his talent was spotted by Phil Miller who would become his long term manager in 1980.
Parrott was successful at an early age. He lost in the final of the national under-16s in 1980 and won the Pontins Junior Championship in 1981. He was Pontins Open Champion in 1982, Junior Pot Black champion in 1982 and 1983, and turned professional the following year after winning a record 14 tournaments in his last year as an amateur player.
Professional career
He turned professional in 1983 and he made his televised debut as a professional during the 1984 Lada Classic which he played Alex Higgins in the Last 16 of the competition in front of a packed house at Warrington near his home town of Liverpool. He then caused a stir when he won the match 5-2. He then beat Tony Knowles in the next round before losing to Steve Davis in the semi-finals. By then, Bookies had him to be tipped the World Snooker Champion within 5 years (it took him seven years). He took his first ranking title in the 1989 European Open, and won this tournament again in 1990.
Parrott also boasts 14 consecutive seasons in the top 16 of the snooker world rankings (the top 16 being the sacred number, as only those players qualify for tournaments automatically, with others having to play preliminary rounds to qualify), eleven of them in the top 6 .
From 1984-2004 he was ever-present at the World Championship, reaching at least the last 16 every year from 1984-1995 , but he failed to qualify in 2005 . Since his 1991 victory he has never again reached the semi-finals, but lost in the quarter-finals seven times between 1992 and 1999 . Only in 1998 did his conqueror reach the final (John Higgins on this occasion.
Overall, Parrott has won a total of nine world ranking events, which is seventh on the all-time list behind Stephen Hendry, Steve Davis, Ronnie O'Sullivan, John Higgins, Mark Williams and Jimmy White. Also, his 1991 triumphs in the World Championship and UK Championship make him one of only five players to win both of snooker's two most prominent ranking titles in the same year.
He has come through the qualifying event for the world championship a record 10 times. In 2007 he reached the last 16 of the World Championship for the first time in 7 years, after victories of James Leadbetter, David Gray and Steve Davis (10-9, having led 6-1 and 9-6)
A record ten of Parrott's World Championship matches have gone to a final-frame decider - he has won 7 of these. Also, John Parrott is the only player to have recorded a "whitewash" in the World Championship final stages - he beat Eddie Charlton 10-0 in the first round in 1992.
He didn't have it all his own way, though. Due to Hendry's dominance, Parrott was the runner-up at the Benson & Hedges Masters on three occasions within a four-year span, and never won the title.
Outside snooker
He is a studio expert on snooker for the BBC, often partnered with Steve Davis, and also does much of their tutorial and playing guidance. He was one of the team captains on A Question Of Sport, alongside footballer and pundit Ally McCoist from 1996 to 2002.
In 1996 he was honoured with an MBE in the Queen's Birthday Honours List.
John is an avid supporter of the football team Everton F.C.. He is also a strong follower of Horse Racing and has done some coverage on the sport with the BBC. He is married to Karen and has 2 children, and lives in Formby. He and his wife are directors of John Parrott Limited.
In 2008 John launched John Parrott Cue Sports, an online retailler selling snooker and pool cues and some snooker collectibles.
Tournament wins
Ranking tournaments
Other tournaments
- Pontins Open 1982
- Junior Pot Black (1982,1983)
- Pontins Professional (1988)
- Norwich Union European Grand Prix (1990)
- Humo Masters (1990)
- Malta Grand Prix (1994)
- German Masters (1998)
- Nations Cup with England team 2000
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