Darren Appleton
With a 2-0 shootout win over Corey Deuel, Darren Appleton punched his ticket to the Joy Cup World Chinese 8-ball Masters Grand Finals.
Other players in the Grand Finals will be determined in late December and early January as the China Finals will take place from December 27th - January 2nd. This event will qualify the top 23 players for the Grand Finals. Zheng YuBo, the 24 year old player from China, occupies the top position on the ICEA Rankings list and has already earned his place in the Grand Finals. January will also see the Overseas Player Qualifier from the 4th - 6th, where 8 more players will qualify.
The Grand Finals field will consist of 64 players (24 Chinese players and 40 international players) and will take place January 7th - 12th. The final players standing in the Grand Finals will cash a check for $151,000 USD. All 64 players in the Grand Finals will receive all food, lodging and travel paid for by Joy Billiards and will also be taken on excursions to view the Great Wall, as well as other places of interest in Qinhuangdao China.
With the efforts made by The Joy Group, The World Pool Association (WPA) has authorized the International Chinese Eight-ball Association (ICEA) as the global governing body of Chinese 8-ball in 2017. Over the past five years, The ICEA has successfully developed 15 member countries. All the contractors in these 15 member countries hold at least 5 Qualifiers every year in their countries. The 2017 Season Grand Finals are authorized by WPA and ICEA.
