- John Parrott
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- This article is about the snooker player. For the U.S. Senator and Representative, see John Fabyan Parrott
John Parrott 
John Parrott in October 2008Born 11 May 1964
LiverpoolSport country 
EnglandNickname The Entertainer, JP Professional 1983–2010 Highest ranking 2 (3 years) Career winnings GB£3,190,975[1] Highest break 147 – Matchroom League 1992[1] Century breaks 221 Tournament wins Ranking 9 Non-ranking 7 World Champion 1991 John Parrott MBE (born 11 May 1964 in Liverpool, England) is an English professional snooker player and TV personality.
He won the World Snooker Championship in 1991, defeating Jimmy White in the final. Two years earlier he had lost 3–18 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, and is one of only five players to win both championships in the same calendar year. He spent three successive seasons at number 2 in the world rankings, and having compiled 221 centuries is one of several players to have compiled more than 200 competitive centuries during his career.
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Early career
Until the age of 12 John Parrott was a keen bowls player[2] 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 English Under-16s Championship 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.[3]
Professional career
He turned professional in 1983 and he made his televised debut as a professional during the 1984 Classic in 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, bookmakers had him tipped to be the World Snooker Champion within 5 years (it took him seven years). He took his first ranking title in the 1989 European Open, and defended his title in 1990.
Parrott also boasts 14 consecutive seasons in the top 16 of the snooker world rankings, eleven of them in the top 6.[2]
From 1984–2004 he was ever-present at the World Championship, reaching at least the last 16 every year from 1984–1995,[2] but he failed to qualify in 2005.[4] Since his 1991 victory he has never again reached the semi-finals, but lost in the quarter-finals seven times between 1992 and 1999.
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 over James Leadbetter, David Gray and Steve Davis (10–9, having led 6–1 and 9–6).[5]
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. Because of Hendry's dominance, Parrott was the runner-up at the Masters on three occasions within a four-year span, and never won the title.
On 4 August 2009 at the qualifiers for the 2009 Shanghai Masters he lost 0–5 against Michael White.
Following his 6–10 defeat to young Chinese Zhang Anda in the 2010 World Championship Qualifiers, Parrott finished outside the top 64 in the end of season rankings and is not assured a place on the main tour for the 2010/2011 season.[6] Later Parrott announced he was to retire from the professional game. He told the Daily Mail:
If I'm off the tour, it’s fairly certain that I'll retire. I certainly won't be playing any lower down. [...] If I lose my card, that's me gone. I still have the utmost respect for the game. I've just lost in the World Championship and I'm not going to spit the dummy out. But I don't enjoy the hours of practice any more.[7]TV work
Parrott is a studio expert on snooker for BBC Sport, 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.
He is also a strong follower of horse racing and is part of the presenting team for the BBC's horse racing coverage.[8]
Personal life
John is an avid supporter of the football team Everton.[9] He is married to Karen and has two children, and lives in Formby. He and his wife are directors of John Parrott Limited.[citation needed]
In 1996 Parrott was honoured with an MBE in the Queen's Birthday Honours List.
In 2008 Parrott launched John Parrott Cue Sports, an online retailer selling snooker and pool cues and some snooker collectibles.[10]
In 2011 it was announced that Parrott was to be the Honourary Patron of the British Crown Green Bowling Association (BCGBA).[11]
Career finals
Ranking event finals: 18 (9 titles, 9 runner-ups)
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 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 wins
- Pontins Professional (1988)
- Kent Cup (1988)
- Norwich Union European Grand Prix (1990)
- Humo Masters (1990)
- Kent Classic (1992)
- Malta Grand Prix (1994)
- German Masters (1998)
Team wins
- Nations Cup with England team 2000
Amateur wins
- Pontins Open 1982
- Junior Pot Black (1982, 1983)
References
- ^ a b John Parrott Eurosport UK & Ireland Accessed 21 February 2010
- ^ a b c "Player Profile: John Parrott". Global Snooker. Archived from the original on 2002-12-23. http://web.archive.org/web/20021223154553/http://www.globalsnookercentre.co.uk/files/Players/Global_Europe/Global_England/p_profile015.htm.
- ^ John Parrott MBE
- ^ John Parrott Sporting Life
- ^ Parrott edges out colleague Davis BBC Sport, 22 April 2007
- ^ Everton, Clive (2010-03-04). "Jimmy White out of snooker world championship after Ken Doherty defeat". The Guardian. http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2010/mar/04/jimmy-white-world-championship-snooker. Retrieved 2011-02-19.
- ^ "Parrott could call it a day". Sky Sports. http://msnsport.skysports.com/story/0,19528,12243_6002047,00.html. Retrieved 27 July 2010.
- ^ 2010 Grand National in HD – a first for UK horse racing BBC Press Office, 29 March 2010
- ^ "Why I love... Everton". BBC Sport. 13 March 2001. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/funny_old_game/1167042.stm. Retrieved 24 April 2010.
- ^ John Parrott Cue Sports
- ^ [1]
External links
- John Parrott at the Internet Movie Database
- John Parrott – results & statistics at CueTracker.net
Further reading
- Parrott, John (1991). Right on Cue : an Autobiography. London: Robson Books Ltd. ISBN 0-8605-1778-0.
World Snooker Champions The early years 1927–1940 Joe DavisPost-War to decline 1946 Joe Davis · 1947 Walter Donaldson · 1948–49 Fred Davis · 1950 Walter Donaldson · 1951 Fred Davis · 1952 Horace LindrumProfessional Matchplay Championship 1952–56 Fred Davis · 1957 John PulmanChallenge matches 1964–68 John PulmanThe modern era (pre-Crucible) The Crucible Theatre 1977 John Spencer · 1978 Ray Reardon · 1979 Terry Griffiths · 1980 Cliff Thorburn · 1981 Steve Davis · 1982 Alex Higgins · 1983–84 Steve Davis · 1985 Dennis Taylor · 1986 Joe Johnson · 1987–89 Steve Davis · 1990 Stephen Hendry · 1991 John Parrott · 1992–96 Stephen Hendry · 1997 Ken Doherty · 1998 John Higgins · 1999 Stephen Hendry · 2000 Mark Williams · 2001 Ronnie O'Sullivan · 2002 Peter Ebdon · 2003 Mark Williams · 2004 Ronnie O'Sullivan · 2005 Shaun Murphy · 2006 Graeme Dott · 2007 John Higgins · 2008 Ronnie O'Sullivan · 2009 John Higgins · 2010 Neil Robertson · 2011 John HigginsPresenters Regular captains Cliff Morgan (1970-75) • Henry Cooper (1970-77) • Bobby Moore (1974) • Bobby Charlton (1974-75) • Fred Trueman (1976) • Brendan Foster (1977) • Gareth Edwards (1979-81) • Emlyn Hughes (1979-81, 1984-88) • Willie Carson (1982-83) • Bill Beaumont (1982-96) • Ian Botham (1988-96) • John Parrott (1996-2002) • Ally McCoist (1996-2007) • Frankie Dettori (2002-04) • Matt Dawson (since 2004) • Phil Tufnell (since 2008)Categories:- World snooker champions
- English snooker players
- Members of the Order of the British Empire
- 1964 births
- Living people
- British sports broadcasters
- Sportspeople from Liverpool
- Snooker writers and broadcasters
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