Boening, Archer to lead US invasion of RP world 10-ball tilt

Americans Shane “The South Dakota Kid” Van Boening, two-time World 9-Ball Pool champion Johnny Archer and Charlie Williams are set to invade the Philippines in the World 10-Ball Championship from Sept. 29-Oct.5 at the Philippine International Convention Center.

Van Boening, currently one of the biggest earners among pool players in the world this year, has previously ruled two Ten Ball tournaments in the US: the US Bar Table Championship and the Derby Classic Ten Ball Ring Game.

Archer, known in the international billiard circuit as The Scorpion, won the World 9-Ball Pool in 1992 and 1997. He also competed in the Philippine Pool Tour-Mandaluyong Mayor's Cup and finished 13th. The 40-year-old Archer was also the runner-up in the Mosconi Cup last year.

Williams, on the other hand, is the founder of the United States Professional Pool Players Association (UPA) Men's Pro Tour. He is dubbed as the “Korean Dragon” being born in Seoul, South Korea and worked as House Pro in the US. Joining them in the tournament proper are Corey Deuel, Robb Saez, Jeremy Jones, Gabe Owen, Charlie Bryant, Louis Ulrich, Shaun Wilkie, Stevie Moore and Oscar Dominguez.

The Philippines will also hold another major qualifying event this month, the BSCP Philippine National Pool Championship, wherein four slots for the WBTC will be at stake. The BSCP also organized the Philippine Pool Tour legs in Mandaluyong City and Puerto Princesa City, which awarded WTBC slots to the winners.

As host country, the Philippines under its governing body in billiards the BSCP and the organizing Raya Sports is entitled to six wildcard spots. Europe under its European Pocket Billiards Union has the most number of allotted slots for the WBTC with 40, followed by Asia with 30. Oceania and South America have been given four slots each while Africa has two slots.

Archer, Van Boening head US bets

A former world no. 1 player, a two-time World 9-Ball Pool champion and a Korean House Pro from the United States are the latest foreign bets set to invade the inaugural World Ten Ball Championship to be hosted by the Philippines from Sept. 29-Oct. 5 at the Philippine International Convention Center.

Shane Van Boening, formerly the world’s best player and now one of the biggest earners among pool players this year, will head the American bidders in this tournament organized by Raya Sports in cooperation with the Billiards and Snooker Congress of the Philippines and sanctioned by the World Pool Association.

Johnny Archer, known in the international billiard circuit as The Scorpion, won the World 9-Ball Pool in 1992 and 1997. He saw action in the Philippine Pool Tour-Mandaluyong Mayor’s Cup and finished 13th. The 40-year-old was also the runner-up in the Mosconi Cup last year. Van Boening has previously ruled two Ten Ball tournaments in the US—the US Bar Table Championship and the Derby Classic Ten Ball Ring Game.

Charlie Williams is a Korean, who became a House Pro in billiards in the United States. He is the founder of the United States Professional Pool Players’ Association Men’s Pro Tour and was dubbed the Korean Dragon. The 11 other players from the US will be determined via the two qualifying events set by the Billiards Congress of America.

Archer, De Luna Fall; Manalo Continues His Winning Run

Unheralded Alex Nobleza scored his biggest win yet with a 9-8 victory over 2006 Doha Asian Games 9-ball silver medalist Jeffrey "The Bull" De Luna. Former Kuwait house pro Mario Tolentino also scored a big upset as he shocked former world 9-ball champion Johnny "Scorpion" Archer of the United States, 9-7, to remain unscathed in the on-going $30,000 Mandaluyong Mayor's Cup 10-ball championship held at the Kaban ng Hiyas Building in Mandaluyong City.

These victories were the biggest upsets so far in this event presented by San Miguel Beer and featuring a $10,000 top prize to the champion and a slot for this year's World Ten Ball slated on September. The event is jointly organized by the Billiards and Snooker Congress of the Philippines and Raya Sports in close cooperation with mayor Benhur Abalos, Brunswick Billiard Tables and League Cities of the Philippines.

"I was just lucky because the ball was in my favor in the end game," said Nobleza, member of the Philippine National Police (PNP) who hails from Camarines Sur.

Nobleza who earlier beat James De Leon, 9-4, will square off with Kenj Taguchi of Japan in the next round, winner over Fidel Punzalan, 9-8, and John Carlo Cerna, 9-0, respectively.

Tolentino, meanwhile, who started his campaign with a 9-0 thrashing of Jestoni Magadia, 9-0, takes on Bob Flores, who beat Ken Escano, 9-6, and Michael Mengorio, 9-4, in order.

Meanwhile, 2005 WPA World Pool 3rd placer Marlon Manalo beat fellow snooker specialist James Al Ortega, 9-7, to face Gilbert Carbonera in the next round. Carbonera demolished Yong Bak Wang of Japan, 9-6 in his last match.

Ex-world 9-ball titlist Thorsten "The Hitman" Hohmann of Germany, Gerry Watson of Canada, Satoshi Kawabata of Japan and Chung Chieh-Te of Taiwan also got past their respective second round assignment to remain in the winner's side.

Archer undefeated for Swanson Memorial Win

It was a field of 181 players that started the Jay Swanson Memorial Tournament with aspiration of first place, but in the end it was Johnny Archer and Dave Hemmah who fought it out for first place.

Archer had sent Hemmah to the one loss side 8-6 in the match for the hot-seat, and Hemmah had to deal with Scott Frost on the one loss side. Frost led the match with Hemmah 5-1, before a missed 7-ball derailed Frost's game. Hemmah took complete control and won six straight games for the 7-5 win and another shot at Archer in the finals.

The final match started out close, but Archer soon distanced himself from Hemmah and scored an 11-7 win for first place and $2800 in prize money. Hemmah pocketed $1900 for second place.

Tournament organizers wanted to thank Eric Peterson for his personal contribution of $1000 to the prize fund. In addition to the money added by Hollywood Billiards, the total added money for the event was $4500.

Archer to face Frost in Tempe, Az

Johnny Archer will take on reigning Olhausen Billiards Desert All Around Champion Scott Frost as part of this exhibition scheduled for Wednesday, January 30th at 7:00 pm.

The challenge match will take place at the end Archer's scheduled exhibition at Kolby's Corner Pocket in Tempe, Az.

The challenge will be a 9-ball race to 9 with alternating breaks.

Fans are urged to arrive early to guarantee a seat.

Johnny Archer

Personal Background

• Name: Johnny Archer
• Known as: "the Scorpion"
• Sex: Male
• Age: 39 years old
• Date of Birth: 12 November 1968
• Place of Birth: Spring Hill, Florida, USA
• Country: united States of America
• Nationality: American
• Hobbies: playing pool
• Spouse: na
• Sports: Billiard

Achievements:

• 1992 WPA World Nine-ball Championship
• 1997 WPA World Nine-ball Championship
• 1999 US Open Nine-ball Championship
• 2000 Enjoypool.com Nine-ball Championship
• 2003 Brunswick Pro Players Championship
• 2003 World Summit of Pool
• 2003 AZBilliards "Money List" leader
• 2003 Sudden Death Seven-ball
• 2003 On Cue; Philippines vs. Rest of the World
• 2006 SML Open
• 2006 International Challenge of Champions
• 2007 Texas Hold 'Em Billiards Championship
• 2007 Turning Stone Classic VIII

Trivia:

• He is one of the most successful nine-ball players of the past fifteen years, having won the majority of the game's major tournaments at least once, culminating in him being named Billiards Digest Player of the Decade at the end of the 1990s. Archer is a two-time WPA World Nine-ball Champion, winning in both 1992 when he defeated Bobby Hunter, and later again in 1997 after beating Lee Kun-fang of Chinese Taipei (Taiwan). He was also a runner-up the following year, losing in the final to Takahashi Kunihiko of Japan. He was the 1999 U.S. Open champion, and has won over 60 professional tournament throughout his career.

• He has also been a regular on the successful US Mosconi Cup team, having joined them ten times, winning on nine of those occasions. The US's only loss with Archer in the team came in 2002, when they were beaten 9-12 by Europe. He has captained the American side since 2004, retaining the Cup on each occasion, the most recent a 12-12 draw in Rotterdam, Netherlands with the US retaining the trophy on account of being the current holders of it.

• Archer also won the 2006 US$50,000 winner-take-all International Challenge of Champions by defeating Thorsten Hohmann in the finals.

• In 2007, he won the Texas Hold 'Em Billiards Championship. While in the 2005 event, the entire purse was awarded to the winner, in the 2007 event, the purse has been split.

• September 3, 2003, the Ripley's Believe It or Not! TV show, Episode 418, invited Archer and Jeremy Jones to an challenge match in speed pool. The show had them timed against each other, to try to beat the record, which at that time stood at 1 minute 30 seconds to break a full rack of balls and then pocket all fifteen balls, and then move to another table and do it again. Archer was the victor. The event was recorded in a warehouse in Los Angeles where other challenge matches were also taking place to beat records.

• Archer has recently rejoined the staff at Inside POOL Magazine, where he writes a monthly instruction column. His instructional writings also appear at InsidePOOLmag.com.

Archer Wins Turning Stone Classic VIII

First I will give credit to AZBilliards.com for this artical once again. Our friend John Morra placed second in this 128 player event defeating Tony Crosby, Santos Sambajon, and Jose Parica to name a few. 17 year old Morra went all the way through the A side of this major pro event undefeated, a great accomplishment for any player, incredible for a 17 year old. We are so proud of him, I can speak for everyone that had been phoning me to see if I had any updates as we followed him through the weekend.

John Morra’s Cinderella-story run at the Turning Stone Classic VIII ended on a sour note when his game turned into a pumpkin and Johnny Archer fitted himself for the glass slipper.

After 17-year-old Morra scuttled tough Filipinos Santos Sambajon, 9-5, and Jose Parica, 9-8, to take the hot-seat, he met Archer in the final of the $25,000-added 9-ball event. A little stiff from a two-hour layoff, Morra failed to capitalize on the few chances Archer gave him and quickly fell into an 8-2 hole. Archer, 39, took his time in dismantling his young opponent, eventually emerging with a 13-4 victory.

“I could have used a couple more rolls, but he played better than me,” said Morra, a former BCA juniors champion who hails from Toronto.

Archer avenged his one loss in the 128-player tournament by beating Parica, 9-6, in the losers’ bracket final. He put an exclamation point on the victory by snapping in the 9 on his final break. Playing loose, gabbing with the crowd, and feeling confident after surviving the one-loss side, Archer seemed the sharper player from the start of the final.

“I think my experience played a part there,” said Archer, the consensus 1990s Player of the Decade and the most dominant American of the last 20 years.

“[Archer] is the toughest guy to beat in a final,” said Parica, who took home $3,800 for his third place finish. Morra won $5,300 for his best-ever finish in a major pro event, and Archer pocketed $8,000 for first.

Archer’s victory was his second in a row at the Joss Northeast Tour’s Turning Stone event, held twice a year at the Turning Stone Resort & Casino in Verona, N.Y. He successfully defended his title from the Classic VII in fall 2006.