The English Pool converts are beginning to stamp their authority in the 9 Ball World as Yorkshireman Darren Appleton beats fellow former English Pool player Karl Boyes in the final of the GB9 Pro Cup event this weekend.
Despite being no stranger to televised matches, Appleton admitted that he was more than a little jealous of Boyes' upcoming IPT Ultimate 8-Ball challenge versus Alex Pagulayan, but also said, "at the same time I'm very happy for him because he finished third in the World Championships last year and he's been invited to nothing... He's been very unlucky because Mark Gray is ranked one in Europe and Daryl Peach winning the World Championships, the chances of that happening for the two of them in the same year is like a miracle really, but it happened."
"Any other year, Karl would have got invited to the World Masters or the World Cup and stuff like that, but he's just a bit unfortunate and he's missed the boat a little bit and things haven't really gone his way and I don't think he's got the rewards he should have got, and I'm really happy for him that he's got the opportunity to play Alex (Pagulayan) on the IPT."
"I think the IPT have looked at that and thought he deserved something from it as well and I'm really happy for him, he's a great guy, he's my best mate and he's a great player."
Appleton is already looking forward to the next GB9 event, The Yorkshire Cup, it's quite local to his home in Pontefract and he said, "I've been there lots of times, it's a great place, the night life is very good, people are really good, it's very quiet, really clean, I think it's going to be the best of them. I haven't been to the club but apparently the club is really, really nice, but what I will guarantee is that the nightlife is awesome, so if you get beat you have a good night, and the people there are really, really nice. It's a nice place, very, very clean and the sites are really nice."
