With the first round of eliminations complete at the Molson Cup, Johnny Archer has eliminated Alex Pagulayan in the match of the day so far.
Johnny came out strong in the match, and raced to an 8-4 lead. He was on his way to ended the match early, as he was running out the rack for a 9-4 victory. Unfortunately for Archer, he jarred the 8-ball. The Canadian crowd groaned as they watch the 8-ball come out of the corner pocket and park directly behind the 9-ball, leaving Pagulayan no direct path to the 8-ball.
Pagulayan calmly lined up the kick and executed it perfectly as the cue-ball came off the rail to make the 8-9 combo in the side and give Pagulayan renewed life in the match. Pagulayan took full advantage of his second chance and ran the next three racks to get back to even at 8-8.
Pagulayan made a ball on the break in the case game, but shot a safety on the 2-ball a little softer than he wanted to. Archer returned to the table and made the tough 2-ball. Now it was Archer's turn to take advantage of unexpected time as the table, as he ran the final rack to score the 9-8 win.
Archer will face Mario Morra in his next match. Morra eliminated Luc Salvas in his first match on Saturday. The other semi-final match will see Ronnie Wiseman take on Alain Martel. Wiseman defeated Dave Thompson and Martel defeated Martin Daigle earlier Saturday. All the players eliminated in the first round on Saturday earned $2000 in prize money, and the eventual winner of this event will pocket $10,000.
Photo courtesy of Chantal Vezina
