THE 1991 world champion John Parrott faces a tough second round match in the Travis Perkins UK Snooker Championship in York on Saturday against Stephen Hendry, winner of the British Open last Sunday.

Parrott came from 4-0 down to beat world number 42 Barry Hawkins 9-8 in a dramatic finish. He pulled back to 5-5, fell 8-6 behind and got back on level terms at 8-8.

Hawkins led by 40 points in the deciding frame, but again the Liverpudlian fought back to stay in contention. When Hawkins missed a difficult green the colour finished hanging over a corner pocket and Parrott was left in a full ball snooker. But he played a sensational shot off the cushion to sink the green and position on brown. He put down the blue and a thin cut saw the pink fall to give him victory.

"For the first four frames I was outplayed, but I kept going and took my chance when it came," Parrott said later.

"It was a huge win for me. I try not to think about the rankings but you can't help it because everyone keeps talking about them. Stephen Hendry is in great form and I will be the underdog, so I'll just go out there and knock the balls around and see what happens."

Parrott trails 24-14 in their meetings. The last time he beat Hendry was six years ago and their third round clash will be the first time they have played each other for three years.

Former world champion Peter Ebdon had an easy 9-2 second round win yesterday over Stuart Bingham, while world number five Stephen Lee knocked out Stoke's Dave Harold 9-5 for a third round match against Barry Pinches.

Nigel Bond, who defeated Ken Doherty, will now play world number 16 Joe Perry, who knocked out Tony Drago 9-6 last night in a second round match.

The final match to finish last night at 11.29pm was Australian Quinten Hann beating Scot Chris Small 9-8 in the second round.

Today's matches were finishing late this afternoon. There are no matches tonight or tomorrow because the Barbican is being re-rigged for BBC television coverage.

Updated: 11:22 Thursday, November 20, 2003