Legend Parrott needs fast break from Aintree

JOHN Parrot will be forced to make a late dash from Saturday’s Grand National to star in a new Snooker Legends Tour which opens in Sheffield on Saturday.

The former snooker world champion will be part of the BBC team providing coverage of the big race from Aintree.

But the race clashes with the 2011 tour of Snooker Legends, which is on a 30-date marathon from Plymouth to Inverness and of which Parrott is one of the star attractions along with Jimmy White, Dennis Taylor, Cliff Thorburn and John Virgo.

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The first night is at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield, which also features special guest Kirk Stevens, and acts as a curtain-raiser for the World Championships which cues off the following weekend.

“I have got a nice day lined up,” said 46-year-old Parrott.

“I’m doing the Grand National for the BBC, finish at 5pm, then go like a scalded cat to Sheffield.”

Liverpudlian Parrott is no stranger to Aintree, of course, having grown up just 15 minutes from the racecourse and first taken to the track as a 13-year-old by his father.

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But the sell-out success of last year’s snooker tour even caught out Crucible veteran Parrott, who celebrates the 20th anniversary of being crowned world champion this year.

“Last year when I came for the tour night in Sheffield, I was stuck in a tailback at the multi-storey car park thinking blooming hell there must be something going on here tonight, like a rock band or something,” he said.

“Then it dawned on me people were coming to see us. I just about managed to get a parking space on the eighth floor, there were a 1,000 people heading to the Crucible. I couldn’t believe it.

“I still think people like to watch us. There’s an Eighties revival in music at the moment, so we are probably going hand-in-hand with that.”

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As well as watching stars like Parrott and White play, the evening will feature opportunities to meet the players, take photographs and get autographs.

“I think people recognise when snooker really burst onto the scene, through TV, with players like Dennis Taylor and Jimmy White, so come for a night out, be entertained, and still see some decent snooker,” said Parrott.

“We can still play. I had five centuries on tour last year. Dennis Taylor who hadn’t made a century for 15 years, made three, and Jimmy had a maximum in Redhill – in fact should have had consecutive 147s, but he missed the final pink.”

The 2011 tour dates in Yorkshire: Saturday, April 9 – Crucible Theatre, Sheffield (0114 249 6000); Thursday, June 2 – Dome, Doncaster (01302 370777); Tuesday, July 12 – Metrodome, Barnsley (01226 730060).