Darren

Darren began getting involved in snooker at around 8 years old. By aged 9, he played his first league game at High Town recreation centre in Luton. By 10 he had won a league competition with breaks of 33 & 43 in the final and won the same competition again at aged 12. Continuing his progress, Darren had his first century break at 13. In 1995 he won his first 16 & under competition at Willie Thorne’s in Leicester followed by a handicap open in Woking. Shortly after, he won a a ‘winner takes all’ competition in the midlands which included Eddie Cooper and Dave Gilbert. For that season he was ranked No.2 in the 16 & under ranking tournaments. Darren practiced with many talented players such as Shaun Murphy, Andy Hicks, Ryan Day, Darren Clarke and many more. Also on his list of achievements was a weekday competition in Tooting with some of the entrants including Tony Drago, David Gray & Leo Fernandez. Darren won the event by beating Nick Pearce in the final. In 1996 at aged 17, Darren entered a pro-am at Strykers in Wolverhampton with 49 players which was fielded with a wealth of talent such as Joe Perry, Michael Holt, and David Roe. On route to the final, just some of the players he beat were Adrian Rosa, Sean Lanigan and a 3-1 final victory of John Lewis. At the age of twenty Darren joined the family business full time and progressed rapidly but still played snooker in the Watford and Harrow leagues. During his time as a league player he won: The ‘Champions of Champions’ beating Mark Leonard in the final. The Luton League Championship on two occasions The Watford Championship on two occasions and runner up to Tim Norris on a 3rd occasion. The Watford pairs on two occasions He was a key member of the successful inter league team, winning the event once and finalists three times. Darren accumulated well over a hundred century breaks and his highest being 140 and also had back to back centuries against Rob Davis not long before being taken ill. For those of you who knew Darren, I’m sure you’ll agree what a respectful, caring and honourable person he was. I feel certain that he would be very proud and honoured that so many players give their support in making this competition so very special.