Karl Boyes and Darren Appleton
July 15, 2012 Indonesia: An inevitable all-British final saw 2010 World 8Ball Champion Karl Boyes steal the limelight away from recently crowned world 9Ball champion and reigning world number one Darren Appleton to emerge as the first ever Guinness World Series of Pool: Speed Pool champion.
It was a comprehensive victory for Boyes, as the Blackpool native beat his compatriot in their thrilling seven-rack finale with an extraordinary time of 5:33 mins versus Appleton’s 7:03 mins.
It was actually Appleton, who broke out the gates quicker, downing two racks in 1:38 mins with Boyes trailing three seconds behind with 1:41 mins. Unfazed, Boyes buckled down and amazingly orchestrated one of the quickest rack run-outs of the tournament in the third, clocking 39 seconds for a total time of 2:20 mins and taking an 18-second lead.
Unfortunately for Appleton it all went downhill from there. The man they call ‘Dynamite’ appeared to have self destructed by snookering himself in the fourth for a forced push out ten second penalty; the usually calm and collected Appleton suddenly found himself deep in trouble.
On the other hand Boyes’ immaculate breaking continued to provide him with quick and easy opportunities for table run-outs allowing him to pad the lead further at 3:43 mins against 4:45 mins going into the sixth rack.
Down but not out, Appleton started the sixth with a great break but a rushed center pocket slice on the striped nine obliterated any hopes of catching up to Boyes who was truly in a league of his own and the epitome of speed ball perfection.
The seventh and final rack proved to be no more than a glorified victory lap for Boyes who was clearly enjoying the taste of victory. Eventually Appleton conceded, came over to his opponents table and congratulated his good friend.
Boyes’ incredible championship performance earned him the coveted title of 2012 Guinness World Series of Pool: Speed Challenge Champion and the top prize of USD41,500.00. For his admirable efforts, Appleton took home USD12,500.00
All throughout the three-day tournament, it was apparent that the British trio of Boyes, Appleton and Chris Melling were the ones to beat as they seemed to have a strategy that helped them dominate all the rounds from the preliminaries to the final. Not even the sharp shooting Filipinos, 2011 World 8Ball Champion Dennis Orcollo and Jeffrey De Luna, were able to stop the onslaught as both were eliminated by the Englishmen in the closing rounds.
Boyes made short work of Orcollo in their semifinal, 3:49 mins against the Filipino’s 5:37 mins. Meanwhile, Appleton had a tougher time dealing with De Luna, 4:37 mins to 4:56 mins. It was also Appleton who beat Melling in the other semifinal, 4:43 mins to 5:12 mins.
On winning the first ever speed pool championship in Asia, Boyes said, “Oh I’m just on top of the moon, ecstatic for sure. I knew it was going to be a tough match and up till the second rack it was anybody’s game. But in the third I knew I had it in the bag. Funny it’s not every day you can say you beat the world’s number one pool player. I’m extremely happy with the way things turned out and you can look for me to come back again next year!”
The first round of the GWSOP: Speed Pool challenge saw 40 players battling the clock as they play two sessions of five racks each with the top 32 times advancing to the next round. Thereafter to the semifinals, the competition adopts a single knockout format with each match having the players face-off in five racks, whoever has the total best-time wins. The final was a 7-rack shootout to determine the championship.
The 2012 Guinness World Series of Pool – Speed Pool Tournament is sanctioned by the Asian Pocket Billiard Union (APBU) and organized by ESPN STAR Sports’ Event Management Group (EMG). Guinness is the title sponsor for the Event. Fisherman’s Friend is the official sponsor. The local sanctioning body is the All Indonesian Billiards Association (POBSI). Iwan Simonis and Aramith supply the official tablecloth and official pool balls respectively. Murrey provides the official pool table while Predator is the official cue. ESPN is the official broadcaster for the tournament.
Please visit www.facebook.com/guinnessindonesia for more information.
