Appleton wins World 9 Ball in hill-hill thriller

Darren Appleton edged Lee He Wen 13-12 to capture his second World Pool title in one of the most dramatic and nail-biting finals in tournament history.

The Englishman led the match 11-3 and 12-6 before China's Lee made some terrific shots to get right back into contention.

In the 25th rack Appleton jumped the two ball into the side pocket and then coolly ran the remaining balls to seal the victory.

Appleton becomes only the seventh player to win World Pool-Billiard Association-sanctioned world titles in two different disciplines. Four years ago he bagged the World 10 Ball crown in Manila.

The Yorkshireman had earlier ousted Japan's Naoyuki Oi, 11-7 to book his final berth against Lee, who had taken out Ralf Souquet of Germany, 11-6 in his semifinal.

The large crowd at the Al Sadd Sports Club in Doha, Qatar surely felt that the rout was on when Appleton reeled off 7 racks in a row to take a 9-2 lead in an extended race-to-13 final. All previous knockout matches were races to 11.

The lead was at 11-3 when Lee started to make some headway. He nailed a lovely cross-side bank on the 1 Ball enroute to grabbing his fourth rack. Two racks later he cut the deficit to 11-6. But when Appleton claimed rack 18 to get to the hill, victory seemed a formality, especially with the Alternate Break format.

But the Pool Gods had other ideas.

Appleton had an easy layout of balls in the 19th rack, but overdrew the white off the three ball behind the six to leave himself snookered on the four. Lee took the rack to make it 12-7.

The Englishman then bobbled the one ball in the next rack. Lee converted for 12-8. Lee grabbed the next two racks as his confidence grew. In rack 22 he pulled off a magnificent reverse-cut 4 to acquire ideal shape on the six. That led to another runout for 12-10.

Appleton then jawed a jump shot in rack 23. Lee cleaned up to pull to within one. Lee broke in the next and kicked the rack off with a superb draw shot on the one to get ideal shape on the two. He ran out to draw level, 12-12. The improbable had happened: the Chinese star had won six straight racks in alternate break to force a final rack decider.

It was Appleton's break in the last rack and although he pocketed the one ball, he had no offensive play on the two. A safety battle ensued, but that ended when Appleton drained the two with a jump shot. He then proceeded to play a perfect three ball while also repositioning the six into a friendlier spot.

Moments later Appleton deposited his 13th and final nine ball. The Mosconi Cupper shrieked in delight, then threw his cue stick on the ground. He then went  to embrace Lee, then, echoing Earl Strickland's antics in the 2002 final after he defeated Francisco Bustamante, clambered on top of the table and treated the crowd to more shouting and fist-pumps.

After stepping off the table he sat down at his chair and appeared to weep.

Appleton joins a select group of multi-discipline world titleists.  Like him, Finland's Mika Immonen has also won both 9 Ball and 10 Ball titles. Chinese Taipei-born Wu Jia Qing, Souquet, and Pinoys Efren Reyes and Ronnie Alcano have garnered both 8 and 9 Ball WPA world championships. Oliver Ortmann of Germany  has a World Straight Pool title to go with the 9 Ball title he won in 1995.

Appleton joins an even more select group of pool players who have won two world titles in two different disciplines and have also topped the prestigious U.S. Open 9 Ball Championship. Reyes, Souquet, Immonen, and now Appleton have earned this distinction. Appleton is the two-time defending champion of that event.

Appleton wins US$40,000 for his week's work, while Lee settles for US$20,000. Souquet and Oi win US$12,000.