Parrott sneaks Crucible spot from Judge

John Parrott was "exceptionally relieved" after battling through to the Crucible in dramatic fashion at Prestatyn.

Parrott, the Embassy world champion in 1991, looked certain to be denied a 21st consecutive appearance at Sheffield when he fell 5-0 and 8-4 behind to Dubliner Michael Judge.

But the 39-year-old Liverpudlian made one last determined effort and eventually secured a 10-9 victory by potting the final pink after Judge had left it hanging in the jaws of a corner pocket.

"I had to do a Best Mate to get out of jail," said horse racing fanatic Parrott, who spent the mid-session break watching the Cheltenham Gold Cup.

"The first four frames featured some of the worst snooker I've played for a dozen years but I kept grafting and grinding and I'm exceptionally relieved.

"I hate getting beaten in anything and I would have been devastated to miss out on the Crucible."

Parrott won three of the last four frames to end the opening session trailing 6-3 and won four frames in succession to pull back from 8-4 down to 8-8 before winning the last two frames to scrape through.

His victory means Parrott will join his fellow BBC snooker presenter Steve Davis in the 32-man draw, which will be made on Friday evening.

Parrott continued: "Steve didn't qualify a couple of years ago and I know how gutted he was.

"The last thing I wanted to do was spend the championship sat on the couch doing all the work while he was playing in it."

Hong Kong number one Marco Fu, who sent Ronnie O'Sullivan packing in the first round last year, suffered his own shock exit when he was beaten 10-7 by Preston's Stuart Pettman.

"Marco's one of the toughest players you can draw here but I've been playing really well this season and didn't mind who I played," said Pettman, who lost 10-2 to Mark Williams on his Sheffield debut last year.

Welshman Ryan Day secured his Crucible debut with a 10-7 defeat of Glaswegian Drew Henry.

Day, whose brother Rhys plays football for Mansfield, lost 10-8 to Steve Davis in the final qualifying round 12 months ago.

But back-to-back total clearances of 131 and 139 helped him build a 6-3 first session lead and he hung on to clinch a place in the TV stages.

Ali Carter, the world number 17, secured a second successive Crucible berth in defeating Stockport's Nick Dyson 10-6.

"It's not about money or ranking points, I just want to play at Sheffield," said Carter, who lost 10-5 to Paul Hunter in the first round last year.