John Parrott made what could be his final farewell from the Crucible Theatre as a player today after losing his 888.com World Championship first-round match 10-3 to Graeme Dott.
The 1991 champion is a shadow of the competitor he was and, with his ranking for next season likely to be in the 40s, he will need to win two qualifying matches to book a place at Sheffield again.
Given his slump in form the Liverpudlian must be long odds to do that, with a break of 63 which finally got him off the mark in frame seven his only half-century contribution against the 2004 runner up.
Trailing 7-2 overnight, Parrott only added to his tally by taking a scrappy frame, and it was all over when he played a poor safety shot on the final blue to enable Dott to complete his victory.
