Deuel Comes From Behind to Defeat Archer

Deuel Comes From Behind to Defeat Archerby Rick DavisThe 7 p.m. feature billiards match of the U.S. Open showcased Johnny “The Scorpion” Archer and Corey Deuel, both former winners of this event, in a winners’-side fight of the top seeded players. Archer jumped out to a quick 4-0 lead before Deuel managed to claim a rack. At that point, Archer extended his lead to 6-3 from a scratch by Deuel. After a break by both players, Deuel shot a quick 1-9 combo followed by another in the next rack, then a 6-9 carom and a break and run … and before the crowd realized it was 6-5. A quick run by Archer from Deuel’s dry break led to a seesaw battle that began with the set tied at 7-all. Finally at double-hill Deuel was able to run the remaining balls to claim the very important set. Discuss the U.S. Open 9-Ball ChampionshipU.S. Open 9-Ball Championships image galleryU.S. Open 9-Ball Championships Tournament BracketsDeuel commented, “I started slow and wasn't playing that well. I was up late, my wake-up call didn’t go off, so I was all stiff when I came down. I felt good … I haven’t felt that good in a while. I didn’t hit a ball since Reno, and the cloth here is quick. You gotta slow-roll your balls here, as opposed to the IPT, where you gotta hit ’em.”
The rest of the round had other big seeds fighting to keep alive although some had tougher matches than others. Earl Strickland and Shawn Putnam went back and forth until Putnam played a jump shot too hard landing the cue off the table. Strickland took the next three racks in obvious control, and the crowd knew that that error cost Putnam the match. Raj "Hitman" Hundal and John Schmidt battled as well, and although it was close early on, Schmidt grew his lead until he won 11-7. Some of the seeds had an easier time, like Nick Varner, who only gave up four racks, and Allen Hopkins, who did the same. Other top non-seeded players came through strong as well: Ronnie Alcano finished 11-4 against Joey Testa, while Tony Crosby hung in there with the popular 11-4 as well.Earlier in the 3 p.m. one-loss round, Gandy Valle of the Philippines won 11-2 over Evan Broxmeyer, while the seeded Jeremy Jones hung in there with an 11-3 defeat of Finland's Marko Lohtander. The flamboyant CJ Wiley bested Rick Howard, a cue maker out of Florida, 11-1. Steve Moore is still alive and kicking with one barrel left. He matched up with Brandon Ashcraft of Michigan and automatically took a lead, going up to 9-4. At that point Ashcraft caught a gear and came within two racks at 9-7. Each player took one more rack before a scratch on the break by Ashcraft handed Moore the last rack. All of the remaining players are in the money now, so every match counts. Visit Inside POOL Magazine for the latest news in the sport of billiards and pool.

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