Darren Appleton

Darren Appleton

Darren Appleton during the World 9-Ball Pool Championship in Doha
Medal record
Competitor for  United Kingdom
Men's Nine-ball
World Games
2013 Cali Singles

Darren Appleton (born 8 February 1976 in Pontefract, West Yorkshire, England) is an English pool (pocket billiards) player, nicknamed "Dynamite".[1] He won the first WPA World Ten-ball Championship in 2008 against Wu Chia-ching, the former world champion in both nine-ball and eight-ball from Taiwan.[2] With the victory, he became the second male player from Britain to win a world championship after Daryl Peach who won the world nine-ball title a year earlier.

Career

Appleton, who started playing pool at age 12,[3] was formerly the world ranked no. 1 player in British-style eight-ball pool.[3] He was twice runner-up in the WEPF Eight-ball Pool World Championship. In 2006, he joined the International Pool Tour's standardised eight-ball competition. That year, he also won the Straight Pool Challenge at the Derby City Classic.

On 5 October 2008, Appleton claimed an upset victory in the inaugural WPA World Ten-ball Championship over Wu Chia-ching, 1311, winning the US$100,000 top prize: "I've waited 16 years for this and have to enjoy the moment. I had mixed feelings and I was looking back at my disappointments in the past. I was ranked first (earlier in the decade) in the world but I have never won a world championship... It was a dream come true for me and I'm happy to win the title here in the Philippines."[4][5][6][7]

In May 2009, Appleton challenged Dennis Hatch of the United States in a three-day race-to-100 challenge match of ten-ball. Hatch, however, came out the victor with a score of 100-83.[8] In the same year, he won the World Pool Masters tournament by defeating Nick van den Berg.[9]

Darren Appleton also won the 2010 U.S. Open 9-ball Championship against Corey Deuel of the United States in a match that went into extra racks.[10]

Appleton was a member of the victorious European team in the 2010 Mosconi Cup. He was named MVP for the tournament with a 5-1 win to loss ratio.

In 2012, Appleton won the WPA World Nine-ball Championship, subduing China's Li He-wen in the finals with a score of 13-12.[11]

In 2013, he won the nine-ball tournament at the World Games 2013, beating Chang Jung-lin 11–10 in the final.

In 2013, he scored a record breaking 200 run in the World Straight Pool Championship against Francisco Bustamante, winning 200-1. This broke the following records:

In 2014, he won the World Straight Pool Championship, beating Shane Van Boening in the final. Also he won 2014 World Cup of Pool playing with Karl Boyes for Team England.

On 2 February 2015, Darren Appleton won the 2015 Chinese Pool World Championship, defeating Mark Selby 21–19 in the final.[14][15]

References

  1. insidepoolmag.com, "Dynamite Blasts World 10-Ball Championship"
  2. "Appleton Wins World Ten Ball Championship". AzBilliards.com. 5 October 2008. Retrieved 2008-10-05.
  3. 1 2 Appleton, Darren (2008). "Darren Appleton". DarrenAppleton.com. Pontefract, UK: self-published. Retrieved 2008-10-06.
  4. manilastandardtoday, "Appleton's 16-year Wait Over"
  5. iht.com, "Appleton Wins World 10-ball Title"
  6. sports.inquirer.net, "Appleton Nips Wu for Title; Pulpul 4th"
  7. abs-cbnnews.com "Appleton Makes History as 1st World Ten Ball Champ"
  8. Katy Moore (May 8, 2009). "Hatch over Appleton". AzBilliards.com. Retrieved 2009-05-09.
  9. Matchroom Sport (May 11, 2009). "Appleton Takes Masters Crown at First Attempt". AzBilliards.com. Retrieved 2009-05-11.
  10. Skip Maloney (October 23, 2010). "Appleton wins US Open". AzBilliards.com. Retrieved 2010-10-24.
  11. Ted Lerner (June 29, 2012). "Its Dynamite in Doha". AzBilliards.com. Retrieved 2012-06-29.
  12. Charlie Williams (August 24, 2013). "DYNAMITE!! Darren Appleton Breaks World Record in 14.1 : Perfect 200 Run". thePoolScene.com. Retrieved 2015-06-08.
  13. www.Muellers.com (August 18, 2014). "World 14.1 Record Darren Appleton Vs. Fransisco Bustamante 2013 www.Muellers.com". Dragon Promotions. Retrieved 2015-06-08.
  14. Darren Appleton and Bai Ge Won the First Chinese Pool Champion
  15. Mark Selby v Darren Appleton, Final 2015 Chinese Pool World Championship

External links

Inaugural champion WPA World Ten-ball Champion
2008
Succeeded by
Mika Immonen
Preceded by
Yukio Akagariyama
WPA World Nine-ball Champion
2012
Succeeded by
Thorsten Hohmann
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