With the world’s greatest shooters set to gather at the iconic East London venue in June, the two England teams have been confirmed for the forthcoming World Cup of Pool at York Hall, London, June 13-18.
Darren Appleton and Mark Gray, both stars of Team Europe’s record-breaking 11-3 victory over USA at December’s Mosconi Cup, will be reunited in the England A team. The host nation is entitled to two sides in the tournament and Daryl Peach will be joined by Imran Majid in England B. Peach was a finalist alongside Gray at the last World Cup and last partnered Majid in 2007.
Darren Appleton
Appleton was a World Cup winner alongside Karl Boyes in 2014 and is delighted to be partnered by a man who has twice been runner-up in the tournament. “I had a great run with Karl, winning it in 2014 in a classic final, filled with the sort of drama which the World Cup has produced over the years,” he said.
“It’s definitely one of the best moments in our career then we put up a good defence with third place last time. This time with Mark Gray is another challenge and sometimes changing partners can be a good thing. It would be great to win it again and maybe it will be third-time lucky for Mark. The York Hall is one of the best venues in pool and I can’t wait to play there again.”
Gray added: “Alongside the Mosconi Cup, the World Cup of Pool is my favourite competition. It is always great to represent England and twice I have narrowly lost in the final with Daryl, so hopefully it will be third-time lucky with my new partner Darren Appleton.”
Peach has unfinished business with the event having twice lost in the final – in 2007 and 2015 – and this year hopes he and Majid will prove perfect partners as he looks to go one better this year in the pressure cooker which is York Hall.
He said: “I’ve twice been runner up in the World Cup of Pool, and while those are two great results in this notoriously pressure packed event, I’d love to go one better and add this prestigious title to my résumé.
“Imran is a great shot maker and that coupled with my all-round knowledge and experience of the game and in particular this actual event is a super combination to have.”
“The World Cup of Pool is definitely the second biggest stage in pool after the Mosconi Cup,” said Majid. “I am delighted to be a part of the England team – I live in London so playing at the York Hall will feel like playing in my back yard. As a more seasoned player and showing some good form recently Daryl Peach and myself are looking to go two rounds better and take this coveted event down.”
Imran Majid
Commencing on Tuesday June 13 and culminating with the final on the evening of Sunday 18, the event will be played to a single elimination format over six days with two sessions a day. There are 31 matches in total.
Teams will be announced shortly with Mosconi Cup stars from both sides of the Atlantic set to be joined by some of the greatest players from around the world.
Tickets are on sale now at www.matchroompool.com priced at just £10.00 per evening session (Tuesday to Sunday) and £8.00 per weekend afternoon session. Tuesday to Friday afternoons are free. A season ticket covering all sessions is priced at £60.00.
The World Cup of Pool will carry a $250,000 prize fund including $60,000 for the champions. The event will be produced by Matchroom Sport Television and televised live on Sky Sports as well as other stations around the world. It is then syndicated internationally as 31 x 1 hour programmes.
2017 WORLD CUP OF POOL is sponsored by Rasson Billiards who supplies the Official Table; the cloth is supplied by Iwan Simonis and the Official Balls are Super Aramith by Saluc. Predator is the Official Cue and Chalk of the event.
Luke Riches, Matchroom Sport: [email protected]
Notes: MATCHROOM SPORT is one of the world’s leading producers of televised sport and is responsible for over 1,000 hours of original programming across a range of sports. Based in the UK and chaired by charismatic founder Barry Hearn, they operate three pool events; the Mosconi Cup, the World Cup of Pool and the World Pool Masters. In addition, the company produce a multitude of events in darts, snooker, tenpin, golf, fishing, ping pong, gymnastics, netball, basketball and boxing.