Darren “Dynamite” Appleton Interview by Suzanne Smith
Darren Appleton was born August 2, 1976, in Pontefract, West Yorkshire, England. He had a simple childhood and he grew up a “normal” kid. Although his parents didn’t have much money they always got by. Darren’s dad was a handy man, mostly a mechanic; he was the guy everyone came to when something needed to be fixed, so he had many different jobs. His mother worked in a sewing factory for years. Both are retired now and they spend a lot of time with their grandkids and keeping up on Darren’s worldwide adventures via the internet and TV. They are very proud of all that Darren has done. When I asked Darren who had been the biggest influence in his life, with no hesitation, he told me: “I always looked up to my brothers and especially my dad. He knew everything and I learned so much from him.” Band of Brothers
Darren has two brothers, Craig and Shane. Growing up, Darren was close to them and I am confident his ambition in life stemmed from being raised in a highly competitive relationship with his brothers. According to Darren, Craig was always very athletic. As a youth, he was a very good boxer but a broken hand early in his career, ended his boxing dreams. For the past few years he has been competing in triathlons comparable to the Iron Man. Darren admires his brother’s physical prowess. “He’s so fit, it’s sick,” were Darren’s words. Shane is Darren’s oldest brother. Like Darren, Shane was also a professional pool player at English 8 Ball and briefly tried American pool but now he does not really play. Darren’s first exposure to the pool league environment was with Shane at a pub called Frog and Firkin in Knottingley, Pontefract. They even won the doubles championship together in 1992 when Darren was only 16 years of age. Growing up, Darren has many fond memories of his family, including going camping and enjoying holidays away from school. Like many kids, Darren didn’t really enjoy school, except for physical education. He absolutely loved competitive sports, primarily soccer, but then followed in his brother’s footsteps and got involved with boxing. They have a big boxing background in their family but at age 15, Darren discovered the world of billiards and got hooked. It took a couple of years, but at seventeen he stopped boxing and played less soccer due to pool tournaments and local leagues. Darren had been exposed to snooker on family vacations and a little bit of English 8 Ball growing up. They even had a 6 foot table that belonged to his brother at home, but Darren never really took the game that seriously. At twelve years old, the table was sold, and he wouldn’t play again until he was 15. Darren’s cousin Andy Appleton was a top professional English 8 Ball player in the UK. Really his first exposure to high level competition was Sneaky Pete Mafia Magazine - November - 2013
Photo credit Suzanne Smith
all due to Andy. Darren says that “Andy was the biggest billiards influence when I was a kid and I learned a lot from him by watching him play in exhibitions and tournaments. I was a good student.” At sixteen years of age, Darren decided to leave school and take the necessary steps to become a professional pool player. Darren never had any coaching; he just jumped in with both feet and started competing. Taking it to the next level
Darren’s biggest win in his early years was beating his cousin Andy Appleton. He was Darren’s idol, so when he beat him in tournaments locally and nationally, it gave him the belief that he could beat anybody in the world. At the time, Andy was ranked 4th in the world in English 8 Ball. In 1996, Darren turned pro and in his very first tournament he won! He was the first player in English 8 Ball history to do that. He beat the World No. 2 at the time named Rob Hill 9-8. That was the moment he believed he was going to be the best player. One year later, Darren was ranked World No. 1 in English 8 Ball. What are your proudest moments?
Winning Junior National Title first attempt 1992 winning national amateur championships with over 1000 entries at 18, first attempt Winning my first professional title, Hilton Professional Championship Becoming World No. 1 within 2 years Winning first television tournament in 1998, first time appearance on TV (Sky Sports International Masters) Later on in my English 8 Ball career, I won over 35 major titles worldwide, was 4 time European Champion, ranked World No. 1 for 6-7 years, won over 200 titles, and represented the England team for 9-10 years and won 6 world team titles in those years.
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