USA End Vietnam's Dream Run

USA secured their place in the first ever PartyPoker.com World Cup of Pool final as Vietnam's dream run came to an end.

The American pairing of Earl Strickland and Rodney Morris defeated the Vietnamese side of Thanh Nam Nguyen and Chi Dung Luong 9-7 to set up a mouth-watering match against Philippines for the trophy and $60,000 top prize.

Unseeded Vietnam, who had defeated three seeded teams to reach the final, were close to pulling off another huge shock but a crucial miss in the 15th by Thanh Nam Nguyen sealed their fate.

A relieved Strickland said: “I missed a ball at the beginning of the match and that was important as we would have blown them off the table. Rodney also missed a three but that’s the nature of the game.”

USA won the lag but made a poor start as a miss on the red three brought Vietnam to the table and Chi Dung Luong later pocketed the 9-ball as the underdogs took a surprise lead.

But it did not last long as Vietnam lost position from the break and a fine pot from Strickland to sink a difficult 8-ball gave Morris the opportunity to make it 1-1, which he did.

A good safety shot from Strickland in the third led to an error from Chi Dung Luong to give Morris a shot at the 1-ball and USA ran through the rest of the balls to move 2-1 in front.

That advantage quickly extended to two racks when Chi Dung Luong overcu