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==