Darren Appleton

Darren Appleton

Appleton at the World 9-Ball Pool Championship in Doha, 2012
Personal information
Born	8 February 1976 (age 40) Pontefract, West Yorkshire, England
Sport
Sport	Pool
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.^[1] He won the first WPA World Ten-ball Championship in 2008 against Wu Jia-qing, 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 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 with a 5-1 win to loss ratio.

In 2012, Appleton won the WPA World Nine-ball Championship, subduing China's Li Hewen in the finals with a score of 13-12.^[10]

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.^[11][12]
• 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.^[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. Appleton, Darren (2008). "Darren Appleton". DarrenAppleton.com. Pontefract, UK: 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. 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 2016-06-17.

External links

• Appleton's official website