Parrott puts Welsh fiasco behind him

Snooker

Snooker

John Parrott, hammered 9-3 in the final of the Welsh Open by the teenager Mark Williams on Saturday night, recovered his composure to reach the quarter-finals of the Benson and Hedges Masters at Wembley Conference Centre yesterday with a nail-biting 6-5 victory over Tony Drago.

Parrott took the seventh frame with a 117 clearance to edge 4-3 ahead but Drago won the eighth on the pink. The next two frames were shared before Parrott, with breaks of 32 and 41, took the deciding frame 73-0.

Earlier in the day Williams' fellow Welshman Matthew Stevens, 18, marked his debut in the event with a 5-3 victory over the veteran Terry Griffiths to earn a match in the last 16 against Alan McManus.