Archer Earns Top Gun Honors 10-Ball Desert Shootout / Tempe, AZ by Skip Maloney Veteran billiard player Johnny Archer struggled through some middle matches in the 10-Ball Desert Shoot-Out but roared back in the double-elimination finals to defeat Mika “Iceman” Immonen twice and take home the $12,500 first prize. Immonen got off the first shot in the hot seat match, and the two started firing back and forth until the score seesawed to double-hill. From there Immonen got the last rack to advance to the finals undefeated 9-8. On the one-loss side, Mike Davis was hard at work shooting his way back. He traded shots with Robb Saez early, then jumped out to a 7-3 lead. Saez fought back to within one at 7-6 before Davis closed it out with two in a row. Charlie “Hillbilly” Bryant dispatched John Schmidt into fifth place and faced Davis in the quarterfinal. Davis dropped Bryant into fourth and turned to face Archer. It looked for a while as if Archer had rediscovered his rhythm, opening the semifinal match … [Read more...]