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Desert Heat: The Hot Stay Hot at the World Summit
Jun 15, 2007, 11:19 AM

At the World Summit of Pool at the Riviera Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, the recent trend in major tournaments looks to be continuing. The formula: Shake out the bracket for a few days, and get ready for a weekend of interesting matchups between Filipino heavyweights and North American upstarts.

Francisco Bustamante and Warren Kiamco advanced into the final eight of the winners bracket. Busta will face Austin Murphy, the California teenager that pops up in big-time tournament brackets. Kiamco will face Stevie Moore, who posted blue-collar victories over Dennis Orcollo, 11-8, and Jeremy Jones, 11-9.

Dispelling any notion of a letdown after taking the 10-Ball World Championship in May, Shane Van Boening cruised in his first three matches. Undoubtedly the hottest player in the bracket, Van Boening will face Mexico’s Ernesto Dominguez.

Continuing to pad his resume, John Morra took out Allen Hopkins, 11-7, and Mika Immonen, 11-8. The 18-year-old Canadian looks to add Alex Pagulayan to his list of victims for 2007.

Immonen will face Orcollo in a marquee matchup on the left side. Some big names have been sent packing, including Rodney Morris, Thorsten Hohmann and Jose Parica.