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Archer Strikes Turning Stone Gold
Aug 18, 2008, 11:18 AM

Archer won 10 straight on the left side. (Photo courtesy of Bruce Clayton.)

Johnny Archer's streak at the bi-annual Turning Stone Classic settled into a familiar pattern after his last title in February. He would go undefeated to earn the hot-seat match, then he'd have to end an upstart's impressive performance in the finals.

At the Turning Stone Classic XI — held Aug. 14-17 at the Turning Stone Resort & Casino in Verona, N.Y. — Archer had a new part to play. This time around, he was bounced to the left side by Dennis Hatch. But Archer started rolling on the left side. He topped seven straight opponents, including Ronnie Wiseman, Shawn Putnam and Jeremy Jones.

Archer then edged Francisco Bustamante in the left-side semifinal, 9-8, to get within one match of his fourth Turning Stone final in 24 months.

Facing Raj Hundal, Archer looked to be in serious trouble. Hundal dominated early, climbing on the hill at 8-2. But Archer, with no margin for error, took the next seven racks for a 9-8 comeback victory.

Waiting in the final was Charlie Williams, who just snapped off the Lucasi Hybrid Invitational Classic 10-ball event. Williams posted back-to-back 9-6 wins over Shane Van Boening and Jeremy Jones to take a spot opposite Hundal in the hot-seat match. The Korean Dragon edged Hundal, 9-7.

In the race-to-13 final, Archer proved to be the hot hand. He extended his lead late for a 13-6 victory, his fourth win at the bi-annual Turning Stone event since August 2006.

Turning Stone Classic XI
Verona, N.Y. — Aug. 14-17
1. Johnny Archer $8,000
2. Charlie Williams $5,000
3. Raj Hundal $3,600
4. Francisco Bustamante $2,600
5. (tie) Shane Van Boening, Jeremy Jones $2,000
7. (tie) Stevie Moore, Jonathan Pinegar $1,600