Darren Appleton
 Darren Appleton during the World 9-Ball Pool Championship in Doha | ||
| Medal record | ||
|---|---|---|
Competitor for  United Kingdom
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| Men's Nine-ball | ||
| World Games | ||
.svg.png){kind=icon} | 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, 13–11, 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:
- The World Straight Pool Championship record of 73 events with a 175 ball run which was previously held by Thorsten Hohmann. [12][13]
- The all time record at any major event of 183 which was set at the US Open 14.1 by Joe Procita.
- First time, in a major tournament, of completing all 200 balls and finishing the game without missing a shot.
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
- ↑ insidepoolmag.com, "Dynamite Blasts World 10-Ball Championship"
- ↑ "Appleton Wins World Ten Ball Championship". AzBilliards.com. 5 October 2008. Retrieved 2008-10-05.
- 1 2 Appleton, Darren (2008). "Darren Appleton". DarrenAppleton.com. Pontefract, UK: self-published. Retrieved 2008-10-06.
- ↑ manilastandardtoday, "Appleton's 16-year Wait Over"
- ↑ iht.com, "Appleton Wins World 10-ball Title"
- ↑ sports.inquirer.net, "Appleton Nips Wu for Title; Pulpul 4th"
- ↑ abs-cbnnews.com "Appleton Makes History as 1st World Ten Ball Champ"
- ↑ Katy Moore (May 8, 2009). "Hatch over Appleton". AzBilliards.com. Retrieved 2009-05-09.
- ↑ Matchroom Sport (May 11, 2009). "Appleton Takes Masters Crown at First Attempt". AzBilliards.com. Retrieved 2009-05-11.
- ↑ Skip Maloney (October 23, 2010). "Appleton wins US Open". AzBilliards.com. Retrieved 2010-10-24.
- ↑ Ted Lerner (June 29, 2012). "Its Dynamite in Doha". AzBilliards.com. Retrieved 2012-06-29.
- ↑ Charlie Williams (August 24, 2013). "DYNAMITE!! Darren Appleton Breaks World Record in 14.1 : Perfect 200 Run". thePoolScene.com. Retrieved 2015-06-08.
- ↑ 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.
- ↑ Darren Appleton and Bai Ge Won the First Chinese Pool Champion
- ↑ 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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