Darren Appleton World 9-Ball Champion

2010 PARTYPOKER.COM Mosconi Cup MVP Darren Appleton gave his 2012 selection chances a massive boost in Qatar as he claimed the World 9 Ball Championship in dramatic style, beating China’s Li Hewen 13-12 after leading 11-3 and 12-6.

The victory moves Appleton to the top of the 2012 PartyPoker.com Mosconi Cup European Rankings with Holland’s Nick van den Berg staking his claim in second spot. Only the top two qualify automatically and these two are 17 points clear of third.

That position is occupied by Greece’s Nikos Ekonomopoulos, whose Cinderella season may yet see him take his place in London in December as the first Greek ever to compete in the Mosconi Cup.

Other movers included Ralf Souquet who finally kick-started his season into gear with a bronze medal in Doha and the Kaiser shoots up 23 places to claim a top ten spot.

The European Mosconi Cup Ranking consists of 10 events – six Euro Tour events and four ”World” events. The “World” events will carry approximately 50% more points due to the international strength of the field.

Only players finishing in the last 32 of each event will be allocated points and at the conclusion, after the 2012 US Open, the top two players will automatically gain entry to the Mosconi Cup side.

The remaining three players will be Matchroom Sport wildcard picks although the ranking will play a part in this.

There are just three events left on the roster of ranking events. They are the German Open (16-18 August), the North Cyprus Open (18-20 October) and finally the US Open 9 Ball Championship which runs from 20-27 October.

The Ranking

1. Darren Appleton (GBR) 66

2. Nick Van Den Berg (NED) 62

3. Nikos Ekonomopoulos (GRE) 45

4. Chris Melling (GBR) 44

5. Oliver Ortmann (GER) 39

6. Bruno Muratore (ITA) 36

7. David Alcaide (ESP) 35

8. Dominic Jentsch (GER) 33

9. Mark Gray (GBR) 31

10. Ralf Souquet (GER) 29

11. Phil Burford (ENG) 27

12. Albin Ouschan (AUT) 26

T13. Dimitri Jungo (SUI) 25

T13. Karol Skowerski (POL) 25

15. Karl Boyes (GBR) 24

Watch the Final Rack of the 2012 World 9 Ball Championships