Boyes outguns Appleton in all-British final of World Speed Ball Challenge

KARL BOYES of Great Britain beat 2011 World 8-ball champion Dennis Orcollo in the semi-final round then subdued compatriot Darren Appleton in an all-British championship to rule the 2012 Guinness World Series of Pool: Speed Ball Challenge at the Ciputra World Mall in Surabaya, Indonesia last Sunday.

Boyes made short work of Orcollo in the semifinal by clocking 3:49 mins against the Filipinos’ 5:37 mins then smashed Appleton in their thrilling seven-rack finale with an extraordinary time of 5:33 mins against the latter’s 7:03 mins.

Boyes’ feat earned him $41,500 while Appleton took home $12,500.

On winning the first ever speed pool championship in Asia, Boyes said, “Oh I’m just on top of the moon, ecstatic for sure. I knew it was going to be a tough match and up till the second rack it was anybody’s game. But in the third I knew I had it in the bag. Funny its not every day you can say you beat the worlds number one pool player. I’m extremely happy with the way things turned out and you can look for me to come back again next year.”

Appleton earlier beat another Filipino entry Jeffrey “The Bull” de Luna, 4:37 mins to 4:56 mins in the quarterfinal round before routing compatriot Chris Melling in the other semifinal, 4:43 mins to 5:12 mins.

All throughout the three-day tournament, it was apparent that the British trio of Boyes, Appleton and Melling were the ones to beat as they seemed to have a strategy that helped them dominate all the rounds from the preliminaries to the final.