| Darren Appleton | |
| Birth Place: | Pontefract, West Yorkshire, England |
| Nickname: | "Dynamite" |
| Game: | 9-Ball, Ten-ball, 8-ball |
| World Champ: | Ten-Ball (2008), Nine-Ball (2012), Chinese Eight-ball (2015) |
| Show-Medals: | yes |
Darren Appleton (born 8 February 1976) is an English professional pool player, best known for playing Eight-ball, Nine-ball and Ten-ball pool.[1]
Appleton won the 2008 WPA World Ten-ball Championship (the inaugural 10-ball world championship) against Wu Jia-qing, of China, a former world champion in both nine-ball and eight-ball.[2] 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.
Appleton, who started playing pool at age 12,[3] was formerly the world ranked no. 1 player in British-style eight-ball pool. 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. In 2008, he won the Straight Pool Challenge at the Derby City Classic.
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.[10] In 2011 he defended his title, winning the U.S. Open 9-Ball Championship again.[11]
In 2012, Appleton won the WPA World Nine-ball Championship, subduing China's Li Hewen in the final with a score of 13–12.[12] Later, in 2013, he also won the nine-ball tournament at the World Games 2013, beating Chang Jung-lin 11–10 in the final.[13] [14] In 2014, he won the Dragon 14.1 Tournament, defeating 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 CBSA World Chinese Eight-ball Championship, defeating world champion snooker player Mark Selby 21–19 in the final.[15] [16]