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Daryl Peach

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Daryl Peach
Born (1972-03-08) 8 March 1972 (age 52)
Castleford, West Yorkshire, England
Sport country England
Nickname"Dazzler"
Professional2002
Pool gamesNine-ball
Tournament wins
World ChampionNine-ball (2007)

Daryl Peach (born 8 March 1972) is an English professional pool player, from Lancashire, who resides in Blackpool, England. He won the 2007 WPA World Nine-ball Championship, where he defeated the Philippines' Roberto Gomez 17–15 in the final to become the first British player to win the WPA World Nine-ball Championship.

Representing England with partner Mark Gray, Peach has competed at the World Cup of Pool on six occasions, reaching the final in 2008 and 2015. Peach represented Great Britain and won the inaugural World Team Championship in 2010. He has also represented Europe in the Mosconi Cup in 1995 and 2007, and was a member of the winning team on both occasions. Peach was the youngest winner of the World Pool Masters, his first pool tournament, winning the 1995 event at the age of 23 years and three months. He is also the first player to have been ranked number one in the UK rankings, European tour rankings, and WPA World rankings concurrently.

Peach is a five-time winner on the Euro Tour, having won events from 2007 until 2012. With a total of nine medals from tour events, Peach is the tenth most successful player on the tour of all time.

Career

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Snooker and transition to pool (1991–1995)

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Peach was born on 8 March 1972 in Castleford, West Yorkshire, England, and moved to Blackpool when he was 14 years old.[1] Originally a snooker player, he turned professional in 1991 but was unable to reach the TV stages of any tournaments. Peach played alongside the likes of Ronnie O'Sullivan, Mark Williams and John Higgins, who were all battling in the qualifying rounds at the same time.[1][2] He reached a peak ranking of 250th in the world on the World Snooker Tour.[1][2] His last snooker tournament was the 1995 Welsh Open, where he lost 4–5 to Matthew Stevens in the opening qualifying round.[3]

Following this loss, Peach was convinced by a friend to take up nine-ball pool, and he entered a UK ranking event "just to see". He won this event in convincing fashion, beating some of the highest ranked UK players along the way. After this initial win, he entered the next three UK ranking events, winning them all to make it four out of four. He quickly rose to the top of the UK pool rankings, and consequently received an invitation to the 1995 European Pool Masters tournament (which later became the World Pool Masters).[1][4] He sailed through the event and defeated Lee Kendall in the final,[5] making Peach the youngest winner of the tournament at age 23 years and three months.[5] He was then invited to represent Europe at the 1995 Mosconi Cup, partnering pool players Kendall, Oliver Ortmann and Tom Storm, and snooker players Steve Davis, Alex Higgins and Jimmy White.[6][7][8] The European team won the series, 16–15, with Peach playing an integral part in Europe's first-ever victory in the event.[6][7] Following his huge successes, Peach decided not to renew his professional snooker status, opting to play pool instead.[1]

Post European Masters (1996–2004)

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After the promising start to his pool career, Peach spent the next few years cementing his place at the top of the UK rankings, playing between 25 and 30 UK ranking events per year. He slowly started to filter more and more European events into his calendar, along with the occasional world major event. He competed in the World Pool Masters, twice reaching the semi-finals. He reached the quarter-finals of the 2004 WPA World Eight-ball Championship, where he lost to Michael Schmidt 7–10.[9] Peach was also starting to make a breakthrough on the tough Euro Tour, reaching the semi-finals of the Austria Open, and later the final of the German Open where he finished runner-up to Ortmann.[10]

United Kingdom number one again...

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In 2005, Peach reached the main stages of all six Euro Tour events. He progressed to the round-of-16 stage at the Belgium and Swiss Opens, the quarter-finals at the German and Costa Del Sol Opens, and the semi-finals of the Austria Open.[11] He later reached the quarter-finals of the WPA World Eight-ball Championship, after defeating Ralf Souquet in the round of 16, losing to eventual champion Wu Jia-qing.[12][13] His season results led him to become the number one ranked player in the United Kingdom, a position that was becoming to be a given for Peach.[11]

This success gave him the opportunity to represent England at the 2006 World Cup of Pool doubles event, where he partnered Steve Davis. In the first round, the pair defeated the South Korean team of Jeong Young-hwa and Lee Gun-jae 9–6, but lost in the quarter-finals to Earl Strickland and Rodney Morris of the United States.[14][15] In late 2006, Peach decided to enter a qualifying event in Holland to win a place on the new International Pool Tour (IPT), which he won.[11] He played in the IPT World Open (eight-ball), finishing in 17th place, and the IPT North American Open, where he finished seventh.[11][16]

World nine-ball champion (2007)

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In 2007, Peach won his first Euro Tour event, the German Open. En route to the final, he beat Alex Lely 10–6, Dzmitry Chuprov 10–3, Niels Feijen 10–7, Thorsten Hohmann 10–7, and David Alcaide 10–5.[10][13] In the final, he defeated Dimitri Jungo 10–3.[17][18][13][19]

In November, Peach entered the 2007 WPA World Nine-ball Championship, held at the Araneta Coliseum in Manila, Philippines (the same arena where Muhammad Ali defeated Joe Frazier in the famous "Thriller in Manila" fight), seeded 17th for the event.[20][21] He won his double elimination rounds, reaching the knockout rounds. He then defeated defending champion Ronato Alcano 10–6, former runner-up Lee Kung-fang 10–7, and Harald Stolka 11–5, to reach the quarter-finals.[8][22] There, Peach played another former runner-up Francisco Bustamante, who led 10–9 in a race-to-11-racks match.[23] With Bustamante hooked behind the 9 ball, he played a bank shot to make a combination shot on the 9.[23] Despite Bustamante celebrating the victory, referee Nigel Reese consulted a television replay of the shot, and declared it to be a foul, awarding Peach ball in hand.[23] The foul shot was replayed on the big overhead screens, showing that there was no doubt the shot was in fact a foul. Following the decision, it took over 10 minutes for the heavily partisan crowd to settle down and accept the decision. With ball in hand, Peach ran out the high pressured rack to tie the match at 10–10. He then kept Bustamante in his seat, completing his victory with a solid break and run in the final rack decider, winning 11–10.[23][24]

In the semi-final, Peach defeated Hungarian player Vilmos Foldes 11–2 to set up a final match against Roberto Gomez. In the race-to-17-racks match, Peach took to the table better, reaching an early five-rack lead at 8–3. Gomez won six racks in a row to take the lead before Peach went ahead by two at 12–10. Gomez dug in again to retake the lead and go 15–12 ahead. Then it was Peach's turn to build a comeback, levelling the match at 15–15. With two racks required to win the championship, Peach maintained his momentum and won the next rack allowing him to get to the hill. A long safety battle ensued in rack 32, which was dominated by Peach, enabling him to get the first chance. He convincingly ran the rack to win the championship, becoming the first-ever British winner of the event.[25][26][27]

Peach was then selected to represent Europe once again, at the 2007 Mosconi Cup,[13] where he partnered Souquet, Feijen, Konstantin Stepanov, and Tony Drago.[28] Peach won his second Mosconi Cup winners medal, making it two from two attempts.[28] In the interview after his match against Earl Strickland, Peach branded his opponent the "scum of the earth", following claims that Strickland had purposefully attempted to distract him.[29] The pair were later separated by referee Michaela Tabb, even after a warning from Tabb to Strickland.[30]

Reigning world champion (2008–2010)

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Following Peach's world championship victory, he reached the round-of-16 stage of both the 2008 WPA World Eight-ball Championship and the U.S. Open Nine-ball Championship.[25] In October 2008, Peach partnered Mark Gray at the 2008 World Cup of Pool. They reached the event's final, losing to the American team of Rodney Morris and Shane Van Boening.[31] The World Nine-ball Championship was cancelled, so Peach retained his world championship status until the event returned in 2010. In the intervening years, Peach won his second and third Euro Tour events at the 2009 Portugal Open [de] and 2010 Italian Open [de].[32]

Peach was chosen to represent Great Britain at the 2010 World Team Championship alongside Darren Appleton, Imran Majid, Karl Boyes, and Mark Gray.[33] The team qualified for the round of 16, where they defeated Germany 4–0. In their quarter-final against the People's Republic of China, the match finished tied at 3–3, and so a tiebreaker was played in a race-to-six-racks. However, the winning team had to win by two clear racks. The match lasted significantly over six racks, with Peach making the winning shot to win 27–25.[34] The team defeated Greece 4–2 to reach the final.[35] In the final, the team played the Filipino team, winning 4–1 to become world champions.[36]

Post world championship (2011–present)

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In 2011, Peach won both the international nine-ball and international eight-ball, a feat which has never been repeated. He reached the quarter-final of both the World nine-ball and ten-ball championships.[37] The following year, Peach won his fourth and fifth Euro Tour events at the 2012 German Open [de].[32] and 2012 Portugal Open.

At the 2015 World Cup of Pool, Peach and partner Mark Gray reached the final once again, but lost 8–10 to the Chinese Taipei team of Ko Pin-yi and Chang Yu-lung.[38][39]

After this point, Peach lost both his parents, and also had a major injury to his right shoulder, which meant that he played sporadically in tournaments since.[24]

Personal life

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Peach is married to Lesley Peach; they have one child named Ellie.[40][41] Peach is an amateur golfer, having gained a handicap of eight in 2010.[41] When not playing pool, he develops real estate.[40]

Titles

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See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f "Profile: Daryl Peach". BBC Lancashire. 19 April 2006. Archived from the original on 10 November 2012. Retrieved 23 August 2019.
  2. ^ a b "Daryl Peach Player Profile". SnookerDatabase.co.uk. Archived from the original on 28 August 2016. Retrieved 21 August 2019.
  3. ^ "1995 Welsh Open Results". SnookerDatabase.co.uk. Archived from the original on 9 June 2017. Retrieved 21 August 2019. Matthew Stevens
  4. ^ "MansionBet World Pool Masters Opening wins for Pag, Shane and Dyno". Pool & Billiard Magazine. 5 March 2018. Archived from the original on 20 June 2019. Retrieved 21 August 2019. Peach
  5. ^ a b "World Pool Masters". MatchroomPool.com. Matchroom Sport. Archived from the original on 31 August 2015. Retrieved 21 August 2019.
  6. ^ a b "Interplay Mosconi Cup II". AZBilliards.com. Archived from the original on 21 August 2018. Retrieved 21 August 2019.
  7. ^ a b "Europe 16–15 USA". MatchroomPool.com. Matchroom Sport. 2 December 2010. Archived from the original on 20 September 2012. Retrieved 21 December 2010.
  8. ^ a b "World 9-Ball Pool Championship 2007". ProPool.info. Archived from the original on 8 October 2018. Retrieved 23 August 2019.
  9. ^ "World 8-Ball Pool Championship 2004". ProPool.info. Archived from the original on 23 August 2019. Retrieved 23 August 2019.
  10. ^ a b "German Open 2007". ProPool.info. Archived from the original on 23 August 2019. Retrieved 23 August 2019.
  11. ^ a b c d "Players: Daryl Peach". ProPool.info. Archived from the original on 25 August 2018. Retrieved 23 August 2019.
  12. ^ "World 8-Ball Pool Championship 2005". ProPool.info. Archived from the original on 23 August 2019. Retrieved 23 August 2019.
  13. ^ a b c d "Daryl Peach On the Spot". BBC Lancashire. 30 October 2007. Archived from the original on 6 June 2009. Retrieved 23 August 2019.
  14. ^ "Matchroom Announces Partypoker.com World Cup of Pool". AZBilliards.com. Archived from the original on 5 July 2017. Retrieved 3 January 2019.
  15. ^ "2006 World Cup of Pool". Billiard Walker. Archived from the original on 3 January 2019. Retrieved 8 June 2018.
  16. ^ "IPT Round Four Complete". AZBilliards.com. Archived from the original on 25 February 2021. Retrieved 23 August 2019.
  17. ^ "Player Profile". BilliardApps.com. Retrieved 23 August 2019.[dead link]
  18. ^ "News Detail". BilliardApps.com. Retrieved 23 August 2019.[dead link]
  19. ^ "2007 EuroTour German Open Winner Daryl Peach talks to Pro9.co.uk". Pro9.co.uk. Retrieved 24 August 2019.
  20. ^ "World Pool Championship Announces Format Change". AZBilliards.com. Archived from the original on 27 November 2020. Retrieved 23 August 2019.
  21. ^ "2007 World Pool Championship". worldpoolchampionship.com. Archived from the original on 13 January 2008.
  22. ^ "WPC Final Eight". AZBilliards.com. Archived from the original on 23 August 2019. Retrieved 23 August 2019.
  23. ^ a b c d "Peach eliminates Bustamante in controversial match". AZBilliards.com. Archived from the original on 23 August 2019. Retrieved 23 August 2019.
  24. ^ a b "Daryl Peach wins 2007 World Pool Championship". AZBilliards.com. Archived from the original on 21 August 2014. Retrieved 21 August 2019.
  25. ^ a b c "Daryl Peach, Tournament Results 2008". AZBilliards.com. Archived from the original on 11 September 2017. Retrieved 24 August 2019.
  26. ^ "Peach's dream" (PDF). Billiards Digest. Archived (PDF) from the original on 12 December 2010. Retrieved 24 August 2019.
  27. ^ "Daryl 'The Dazzler' Peach". PredatorCues.com. Archived from the original on 9 June 2017. Retrieved 24 August 2019.
  28. ^ a b "Results of the Mosconi Cup 2007". MosconiCup.com. Matchroom Sport. Archived from the original on 21 July 2009. Retrieved 5 July 2009.
  29. ^ Nick Metcalfe (March 2010). The Pool Bible. Chartwell Books. p. 191. ISBN 9780785826026.
  30. ^ "Europe outpot stars and stripes!". BBC Lancashire. Archived from the original on 20 December 2007. Retrieved 24 August 2019.
  31. ^ "Team USA wins World Cup of Pool". AZBilliards.com. Archived from the original on 5 July 2017. Retrieved 24 August 2019.
  32. ^ a b c d e f "Daryl Peach – Player Profile". BilliardApps.com. European Pocket Billiard Federation. Archived from the original on 28 August 2016. Retrieved 21 August 2019.
  33. ^ "World Teams Championship 2010". AZBilliards.com. Archived from the original on 3 March 2021. Retrieved 24 August 2019.
  34. ^ "World Team Championship Final Four". AZBilliards.com. Archived from the original on 20 March 2016. Retrieved 24 August 2019.
  35. ^ "Philippines vs Great Britain for World Team Championship". AZBilliards.com. Archived from the original on 18 March 2016. Retrieved 24 August 2019.
  36. ^ a b "Great Britain Wins World Team Championship". AZBilliards.com. Archived from the original on 18 March 2016. Retrieved 24 August 2019.
  37. ^ "Daryl Peach, Tournament Results 2011". AZBilliards.com. Archived from the original on 11 September 2017. Retrieved 24 August 2019.
  38. ^ "Dafabet World Cup of Pool 2015". AZBilliards.com. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 25 August 2019.
  39. ^ "Chinese Taipei take World Cup in thriller". AZBilliards.com. Archived from the original on 5 July 2017. Retrieved 25 August 2019.
  40. ^ a b "An interview with former World 9-Ball Champion Daryl Peach". Kozoom.com. Retrieved 24 August 2019.
  41. ^ a b "Daryl Peach – The Driving Ambition". Pro9.co.uk. Archived from the original on 2 August 2016. Retrieved 24 August 2019.
  42. ^ "Peach beats Feijen hill-hill for Lugo International 9-Ball Open Win". AZBilliards.com. 2 July 2009. Archived from the original on 8 July 2009. Retrieved 2 July 2009.
  43. ^ a b "Kaiser Seals Deal For Team Europe". AZBilliards.com. Archived from the original on 26 March 2015. Retrieved 21 August 2019.
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