Johnny Archer
Marietta, Georgia – Dragon Promotions in conjunction with Marietta Billiard Club will be producing the 3rd Annual Johnny Archer Classic on October 12th-14th, 2012. The event formally known as the Gem City Classic, is continuing on this year and expanding to become a larger professional tournament. For years, the event was unofficially referred to as Johnny Archer's tournament, so now the title has become official.
"Johnny is one of the greatest legends in the sport. Having done everything imaginable in pool including World Champion titles and Hall of Fame, we felt it was fitting that he have a tournament named after him", said Cindy Lee, CEO of Dragon Promotions who is producing the event and which also manages Archer.
"I'm really excited about this year's event! We are getting Dragon Promotions involved to make it bigger and more professional, and hope that one day it will become one of the top tour stops on the pro circuit", said Johnny Archer, pro legend and owner of Marietta Billiard Club. "I do feel a little shy about it being named after me, but I know most of the guys called it 'Johnny's Tournament' anyways, so it wasn't a big leap. I really do hope the players and industry support my event."
World Champion Mika Immonen of Finland commented, "It's a great honor for Johnny, and very well deserved. He has been a great champion for so long. In Finland, they made an event called the Ice Man Open for recognition of my achievements. And we are a small country in pool. So for me I was overwhelmed with just a fraction of what Johnny must feel."
The Johnny Archer Classic is a pro 10-Ball tournament. Past winners have been Shane Van Boening and, ironically, Johnny Archer. Past participants have been a who's who in pro pool including Rodney Morris, Corey Deuel, John Schmidt, Charlie Williams, Larry Nevel, Tommy Kennedy, Stevie Moore, Shawn Putnam, Mike Dechaine, Allison Fisher and many more. Most of the pros on tour are expected to attend and support the event.
"As a teenage young player I used to watch Johnny play alot. I was 15 years old when I watched him win his first World Championship in Taiwan. It's incredible that 20 years later I'm working on producing an event in his honor", said Charlie Williams, fellow pro player and Dragon Promotions co-producer of the event.
"Johnny has been the greatest American player since the millenium started, which is as early as my pool career. And I know even well before that. He's been a player we all look up to. I'm really happy for him and it's an honor to be playing in it with him", said Brandon Shuff, one of the USA's new top young talents.
Marietta Billiard Club was opened in June 2007 and is a 20,000 square foot facility with 35 tables in a relaxed, friendly environment. The indoor recreations include several dart boards, foosball tables, pool leagues, pool tournaments, Texas Hold'em poker leagues and tournaments and more! It also has a private party room, The Scorpion Room , two full bars, live bands, and a house billiard pro Shawn Putnam. MBC also is a local favorite sports bar with full-service bar and restaurant-style food served by a fun-loving staff! Fans will enjoy ice-cold beverages while watching their favorite sports team play on one of MBC's huge LCD flat screens! Please visit www.themariettabilliardclub.com/
To play in the Johnny Archer Classic Email johnnyarcherclassic@gmail.com or call 1-678 324-6693 for info
The Marietta Billiard Club Suite 210 1355 Roswell Road Marietta, GA 30062 .
Dragon Promotions is one of the leading producers of billiard programming in the world today. In a span of over 11 years, Dragon Promotions has produced over 100 international events airing on networks in USA, Korea, and Europe such as ESPN, ABS-CBN, ESPN Star Asia, MBC ESPN, XTM, XPORTS, and Euro Sport. Events include The World Tournament of 14.1, The Predator International 10-Ball Championship, King & Queen of Carom, Empress Cup, Pro Pool Schools, DP Pro Classic, Women's Trickshot Challenge, World Junior 10-Ball Championships, The World Mixed Doubles and many more. Dragon also manages some of the world's best players including Johnny Archer, Allison Fisher, Mika Immonen, Shanelle Loraine, Rodney Morris, Charlie Williams, Mike Davis, and Erica Park. Watch their decade long anniversary video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LZrvwijI8fg visit www.dragonpromotions.com
