Maurice Parkin is an
English former professional
snooker
Snooker (pronounced , ) is a cue sport played on a rectangular Billiard table#Snooker and English billiards tables, billiards table covered with a green cloth called baize, with six Billiard table#Pockets 2, pockets: one at each corner and ...
player.
Career
Parkin turned professional in September 1968, entering the
1972 World Championship that season. He won his first qualifying round match 11–10 against
Geoff Thompson, but was defeated in his next, 3–11 by the young
Alex Higgins
Alexander Gordon Higgins (18 March 1949 – 24 July 2010) was a Northern Irish professional snooker player and a two-time world champion who is remembered as one of the most iconic figures in the sport's history. Nicknamed "Hurricane Higgi ...
.
In 1973, Parkin lost 3–9 to
Warren Simpson in the last 24, exiting the 1974 tournament at the same stage, 5–8 to
Marcus Owen. In 1978, Parkin won his first match in six years, defeating
Bernard Bennett 9–4 to set up a last-24 meeting with
Bill Werbeniuk
William Alexander Werbeniuk ( ; 14 January 1947 – 20 January 2003) was a Canadian professional snooker and pool player. Recognisable for his girth, he was nicknamed "Big Bill". Werbeniuk was a four-time World Championship quarter-finalist and ...
, which he lost 2–9.
Parkin never won another match, notably being whitewashed 9–0 by
John Virgo
John Trevor Virgo (born 4 March 1946) is an English snooker commentator and former professional snooker player.
After turning professional in 1976, Virgo won four professional titles, including the 1979 UK Championship, the 1980 Bombay Int ...
in qualifying for the 1979 World Championship. The closest he came to achieving another victory was in the last 128 at the 1987 British Open; there, he led
John Hargreaves 4–2, but lost 4–5.
Parkin's final match was symbolic of his career; in qualifying for the 1990 World Championship, he lost 0–10 to nineteen-year-old
Barry Pinches. Having been ranked 91st in the world for the 1984/1985 season, he had fallen to 135th by this time, and although he remained on the tour as a non-active member until 1992, Parkin left the professional game in 1990.
References
English snooker players
Living people
Year of birth missing (living people)
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