Johnny Archer Takes On Québec's Best This Weekend in Valleyfield.

Photo taken from Johnny Archer Facebook Page. 

By: Markus Noé

For pool fans in Western Québec and Eastern Ontario who have been waiting in anticipation, the day is almost upon us. Of course I am talking about 4 time World Champion Johnny Archer coming to Dooly's Valleyfield  this Saturday February 28th. Local pool halls are a buzz with curiosity on what brings such a big name to the local circuit.

The organizers of the Classique des Appalaches are the ones to thank for this as it has been recently announced that this event will continue for another year. Originally there was word that the funding was no longer in place. However it looks like everything has been worked out and there will be an  announcement that the "Classique" will happen sometime in mid May and that is why Johnny Archer has come to help promote this event. He will also be playing in a series of challenge matches Thursday night in Thetford Mines.

Last year they had two divisions max 32 players, one 9 ball and one 10 ball, both having $5,000 added. It attracted names such as Mike Dechaine, Jeremy Sossei, Johnny Archer, Thorsten Hohmann, John Morra, Jason Klatt, Erik Hjorleifson and many more of the Worlds top players. From a fans point of view it was such a success it was a disappointment to hear of its earlier cancellation.

To my recollection the entire event takes about 4 days to play out. There is also amateur divisions C-AAA to participate in which attracts hundreds of players to the small town of Thetford Mines for those few days. For amateur players and fans it is a real treat to have all these world class players at your disposal.The way the venue is set up and because outside of playing pool there is not much to do, you can get rare access to the players who are all very approachable. I recommend to anyone who is able to book time off work to reserve your hotel room now.

Cue Sport Nation will have all the news of Archers visit to Québec as well as all the info from the this weeks announcement. Winning on Saturday will be far from a walk in the park for Archer. Dooly's Valleyfield is owned by multiple World Speed Pool Champion and one of Canada's best 9 ball players Luc Salvas. Archer will also have to beat the likes of Alain Martel, Danny Hewitt, Martin Daigle and many more great players as the stable of talent in Québec is deep.  I expect this to be one of the best attended tournaments of the season for the Québec Federation.