Johnny Archer has revived the previously named Gem City Classic into the Johnny Archer Classic, which is being played at Johnny’s room in Marietta, Georgia 12 - 14th October 2012. The two Gem City Classics held a few years ago, were won by Johnny Archer and Shane Van Boening respectively.
This new event to the calendar has a star studded field headed by the World Champion and Hall of Famer Johnny Archer, with Shane van Boening, Rodney Morris, Warren Kiamco (Phi), Corey Dueul, Thorstan Hohmann, Stevie Moore Jeremy Sossei, Hunter Lombardo, Johnathan Pinegar, Shannon Dalton, Shawn Putnam, Charlie Williams, Brandon Shuff, Mike Davis, Robb Saez, Donny Mills, Israel Rota (Phi), Kim Davenport Jesse Engel, and Tommy Kennedy, making up the remainder of this who’s who in US pool.
Also in the field was Wang Can, an 18 year old player from China who is visiting the States on a three month visa. When I spoke to him on his arrival at Johnny’s room this morning, he assured me that he had never won any events or trophies back in China, which led me to believe that he was not a contender at this event.
How wrong can you be, as the young man in his second match of the day dispatched World Champion Thorstan Hohmann to the one loss side of the bracket beating him on the hill at 9-8. Wang also beat Randy Whitehead in his first match earlier in the day. So all eyes will be on the diminutive Wang Can as he enters the second day of this three day event.
The only other big upset on day one was Robb Saez losing 9-2 in first match of the day to Mark Ritter. Robb, however did win his next match in the losers bracket, and plays Donny Mills in the 10 am Saturday morning line up. Donny lost his second match of the day to Israel Rota (Phi) 9-7.
After an arduous first days play, the 64 player field was down to the last 16 on the winners side, and the pairings are as follows:
Shane Van Boening Vs Corey Deuel
Johnny Archer VS Shannon Dalton
Tommy Kennedy Vs Israel Rota
Johnathan Pinegar Vs Brandon Shuff
Shawn Putnam Vs Rodney Morris
Mark Ritter Vs Warren Kiamco
Wang Can Vs Hunter Lombardo
Mike Davis Vs Stevie Moore
