Nine-time Mosconi Cup champion Johnny Archer has targeted a shock return to the American team following his surprise victory over Max Lechner in the Arizona Open first round.
Archer, who made a record 17 appearances on Team USA between 1997 and 2014, expressed his desire to return to the sport’s grandest stage after dumping one of the world’s best out of the World Nineball Tour event in Arizona.
The 57-year-old two-time world champion produced a hard-fought 10-8 victory over Lechner, a former US Open runner-up, to arrange a second round match against Filipino Roberto Gomez.
“It’s been a while since I’ve been playing at events like this,” Archer told the World Nineball Tour. It’s been roughly 12 years since my last Mosconi Cup, but it feels great to be back competing across these three major events.
“I wanted to give myself one more shot at qualifying for the Mosconi Cup and hopefully get back on Team USA one more time. I know that might sound crazy, but today’s win shows I can still compete with the top players. That’s the goal.”
Austria’s Lechner was not alone in being on the receiving end of a disappointing first round exit from the single elimination tournament, with top 16 stars Eklent Kaci and Wiktor Zielinski also departing.
Taiwanese youngster Sun Yi-Hsuan compiled four break and runs and showcased superb safety play to beat Eklent Kaci 10-7 in one of his biggest ever wins, fending off a five-rack surge from Kaci having raced into a 5-0 lead.
Another promising young prospect in Swedish teenager Walter Laikre won eight of the last nine racks from 6-2 down to overcome Zielinski and set up a second round match against Francesco Candela.
Shane van Boening and Felix Vogel breezed into the second round in 34 and 37 minutes respectively with whitewash victories, while top seed Aloysius Yapp bounced back from his disappointing Florida Open defence with a 10-6 win over Max Eberle.
Just one first round contest required a deciding rack as Mosconi Cup mainstay Tyler Styer followed his Florida Open win over Dean Shields by repeating the act in a closely-contested affair.
