Archer New Turning Stone Classic X Champion

Archer New Turning Stone Classic X Champion
by Rick Davis
Ending just past 10 p.m. Sunday evening, Johnny “The Scorpion” Archer survived a three-hour grinder in the finals where he bested Jeremy Sossei 13-8 to win the Turning Stone Classic X in Verona, NY. The 128-player field fought from February 21-24 at the Turning Stone Hotel and Casino for a share of the $25,000 added, $41,000 prize pool.
Starting the final day of play on Sunday, the top eight players began to inch towards the finish line. On the winners’ side Sossei bested Ronnie Wiseman 9-7, while Archer defeated Tony Chohan by the same margin. Archer then found his way past Sossei 9-7 in the hot seat match while he waited for the one-loss side to present his opposition in the finals.
Early on the one-loss side Mika Immonen started strong, eliminating Turning Stone IX’s runner-up Louis Ulrich 9-3 then Wiseman 9-7. This put Immonen in the quarterfinals where he faced Dennis Hatch after he had come off victories against Steve Moore 9-5 and Chohan 9-7. Hatch stayed in gear for another round as he knocked out Immonen 9-6 but then fell to Sossei in the semifinals, where Sossei drilled Hatch 9-2 in the day’s biggest upset.
Sossei earned a crack at Archer, and with the finals set to play, a single race to 13 would decide the winner. Finally, just after the three-hour mark, Archer had the end in sight with the score 11-8 in his favor. Sossei did not claim another rack after that and Archer propelled himself to a 13-8 victory to earn the title of champion of the Turning Stone Classic X.
Results:
1st Johnny Archer $8000
2nd Jeremy Sossei $5000
3rd Dennis Hatch $3600
4th Mike Immonen $2600
5th Tony Chohan $2000
Ronnie Wiseman
7th Steve Moore $1600
Louis Ulrich