Darren Appleton

Darren Appleton started playing English 8-ball pool at age 12. His skills and tenacity brought him to the world #1 rank in this cuesport. He was twice runner-up in the WEPF Eight-ball Pool World Championship. While having briefly played American pool, and specifically 9-Ball (he ranked 33rd in the 2000 World Championships), it's only in 2006, that he decided to devote 100% of his time to the "big tables", and decided to join the International Pool Tour. In an effort to get as competitive as possible, he also played on the Eurotour, where he was runner up for his first ever appearance in Prague. Later in the month, he won the Straight Pool Challenge at the Derby City Classic. In 2007 he spent most of the year practicing and playing money matches in the Philippines, where he wanted to learn about the specific aspects of all the games. While not the favorite, Darren Appleton won the first WPA World Ten-ball Championship in 2008 against 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." In May 2009, Appleton played Dennis Hatch during The Action Report's TAR 13, a three-day race-to-100 challenge match of 10-ball. He lost 83 to 100. Later in the week he was due to play the World Pool Masters 2008. Feeling down, his only motivation to take part in the event was because it was his first ever invitation to a Matchroom event. He was trailing in his two first matches 0-3 in races to 8, and went on to win the event, beating World Champions Mika Immonen and Ralf Souquet in the process. His fighting spirit and dedication to practicing, made him one of the toughest players to beat the following years. In 2010 and 2011, he won back-to-back US Open 9-Ball Championships. He also won back-to-back Challenge of Champions in 2011 and 2012. In June 2012 he won a second world title during World Nine-ball Championship, beating China's Li He-wen in the finals by a score of 13-12. After being left out of the European Mosconi Cup team in 2008 - one of the biggest disappointments of his carreer - he never left the team since then. Qualified on ranking or invitational systems, he has played the event in 2009, 2010, 2011 and 2012, winning the cup three out of four times, and claiming the MVP trophy in London, in front of his home crowd. Shortly after winning his first big tournament in the states, the US Open 2010, Darren moved to the United States, near Allentown on the east coast. He married longtime girlfriend Angie in august 2014.