Darren Appleton

Darren Appleton
Appleton at the World 9-Ball Pool Championship in Doha, 2012
Born 8 February 1976 (1976-02-08) (age 42)
Pontefract, West Yorkshire, England
Sport country  United Kingdom
Pool games 9-Ball, Ten-ball, 8-ball
Tournament wins
World Champion 9-Ball (2012), Ten-Ball (2012)
Medal record
Representing  United Kingdom
Men's Nine-ball
WPA World Nine-ball Championship
2012 Doha Singles
World Games
2013 Cali Singles
Men's Ten-ball
WPA World Ten-ball Championship
2008 Philippines Singles
Appleton after winning the World 9-Ball Pool Championship

Darren "Dynamite" Appleton (born 8 February 1976) is an English pool player, best known for playing Nine-ball and Ten-ball pool.[1]

Appleton won the 2008 WPA World Ten-ball Championship (the inagural 10-ball world championship) against Wu Jia-qing who was 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. Appleton is also a world champion in nine-ball, having won the 2012 WPA World Nine-ball Championship, defeating Li He-wen in the final.

Career

Early 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.

World Ten-ball Champion (2008-2012)

On 5 October 2008, Appleton claimed an upset victory in the inaugural WPA Ten-ball World Championship over Wu Jia-qing, 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]

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.[7] In the same year, he won the World Pool Masters tournament by defeating Nick van den Berg.[8]

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.[9] Appleton was a member of the victorious European team in the 2010 Mosconi Cup. He was named MVP for the tournament, after winning 5 of his 6 matches in the series.

World Nine-ball Champion (2012-Present)

In 2012, Appleton won the WPA World Nine-ball Championship, subduing China's Li Hewen in the final with a score of 13-12.[10] Later, in 2013, he also won the nine-ball tournament at the World Games 2013, beating Chang Jung-lin 11–10 in the final. Later that year, he scored a record breaking 200 run in the World 14.1 Tournament against Francisco Bustamante, winning 200-1. This feat would break the World Straight Pool Championship record of 73 events with a 175 ball run which was previously held by Thorsten Hohmann.[11][12], as well as the all-time record at any major event of 183 which was set at the US Open 14.1 by Joe Procita, and also the 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 14.1 Tournament, 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.[13][14]

References

  1. ↑ "Dynamite Blasts World 10-Ball Championship". insidepoolmag.com (October 2008)
  2. ↑ "Appleton Wins World Ten Ball Championship". AzBilliards.com. 5 October 2008. Retrieved 5 October 2008.
  3. 1 2 Appleton, Darren (2008). "Darren Appleton". DarrenAppleton.com. Pontefract: self-published. Retrieved 6 October 2008.
  4. ↑ Joble, Rey (October 2008) "Appleton's 16-year Wait Over". manilastandardtoday.com
  5. ↑ Castillo, Musong R. (6 October 2008) "Appleton Nips Wu for Title; Pulpul 4th". Philippine Daily Inquirer
  6. ↑ Gasgonia, Dennis (5 October 2008) "Appleton Makes History as 1st World Ten Ball Champ". abs-cbnnews.com
  7. ↑ Katy Moore (8 May 2009). "Hatch over Appleton". AzBilliards.com. Archived from the original on 15 May 2009. Retrieved 9 May 2009.
  8. ↑ Matchroom Sport (11 May 2009). "Appleton Takes Masters Crown at First Attempt". AzBilliards.com. Archived from the original on 25 February 2012. Retrieved 11 May 2009.
  9. ↑ Skip Maloney (23 October 2010). "Appleton wins US Open". AzBilliards.com. Retrieved 24 October 2010.
  10. ↑ Ted Lerner (29 June 2012). "Its Dynamite in Doha". AzBilliards.com. Retrieved 29 June 2012.
  11. ↑ Charlie Williams (24 August 2013). "DYNAMITE!! Darren Appleton Breaks World Record in 14.1 : Perfect 200 Run". thePoolScene.com. Retrieved 8 June 2015.
  12. ↑ "World 14.1 Record Darren Appleton Vs. Fransisco Bustamante 2013". www.Muellers.com. 18 August 2014. Retrieved 8 June 2015.
  13. ↑ Lai, Samuel (12 February 2015) Darren Appleton and Bai Ge Won the First Chinese Pool Champion. alison-chang.com
  14. ↑ Mark Selby v Darren Appleton, Final 2015 Chinese Pool World Championship. YouTube.com (2 February 2015). Retrieved on 17 June 2016.
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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