Parrott ponders retirement

John Parrott has admitted he could quit snooker after failing to qualify for the Betfred.com World Championship.

The 1991 world champion has steadily fallen down the rankings and is now certain to slip out of the top 64 for next season. He lost 10-6 to Chinese teenager Anda Zhang at Sheffield's English Institute of Sport on Wednesday and would face a future away from the main tour if he opts to continue.

Parrott, 45, said in 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."

He added: "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."

Jimmy White won through to the penultimate round of qualifying with a 10-8 victory over Scotland's Mark Boyle - a result which ended Parrott's chances of staying in the top 64 - and the six-time Crucible runner-up will next take on 1997 world champion Ken Doherty.