Johnny "The Scorpion" Archer Takes Kasson Pro 9-Ball Open At JOB's Madison, TN-Johnny "The Scorpion" Archer of Marietta, GA, had nearly every title that's worth having in men's' pro pool: Player of the Year, WPA World Champion, Ultimate 9-Ball Champion, Sands Regency. Now he can add a Camel title to his long list of accomplishments. Archer took home the Kasson Pro 9-Ball Open trophy-and the $15,000 check-when he defeated Jose Parica of La Puente, CA in the final match here Sept. 19. The win puts Archer hot on the heels of Earl Strickland, Greensboro, NC for the lead in the Camel Pro Billiards Series year-end bonus fund race. Archer trails by just 35 points halfway through the season. Although he drew a bye in the first round of play, Archer got no breaks from the competition on his way to the undefeated side of Sunday's final four bracket. Archer defeated a half dozen top-25 players: Leil Gay (Detroit, MI, ranked 18); Gerry Watson (Montreal, QUE, ranked 13); Jeremy Jones (Jackson, FL, ranked 3); Kunihiko Takahashi (Tokyo, Japan, ranked 25 and current World 9-Ball titleist) and Earl Strickland (Greensboro, NC, ranked 1). Archer's only defeat came in the quarterfinal match on Sunday at noon when he faced an also undefeated Parica for the first time. Parica squeaked by Archer 11-10 to advance to the final match, while Archer went to the left to take on Strickland. Strickland had advanced to 2:00 by downing current Camel Series champ Francisco Bustamante (Kiel, Germany, ranked 4) 11-10. With both Strickland and Archer at the hill, Archer had cleared the table and was lining up for a straight in shot on the nine, when Strickland arose and conceded the shot and the match. After a quick break, Archer and Parica faced off for the big prize. Despite some mid-match difficulty with the rack (the audience cheered tournament director Scott Smith for each successful rack thereafter) Archer moved past Parica 11-10. As the crowd roared its approval, a clearly overwhelmed Archer accepted the trophy and the $15,000 check from SME's Larry Kiger. With this win, Archer moves into second place in the point standings behind Earl Strickland, with Jeremy Jones 50 points back at third. Archer will ride the momentum of this win to the 24th annual U.S. Open 9-Ball in Chesapeake, VA, Sept. 21 through 26. The U.S. Open is now the only major title Archer lacks The fifth event of the Camel season will kick off the second half of the 1999 schedule at Romine's High Pockets in Milwaukee, WI Oct. 6-10.