Underdog Vietnam Billiards Team Wins Again

Underdog Vietnam Billiards Team Wins AgainThe Vietnam billiard team, the 33/1 outsiders, continued to upset the form book at the 2006 PartyPoker.com World Cup of Pool as they came from behind again to oust favourites Italy and book a spot in Sunday’s semi-final line-up. The Hanoi-based pairing of Thanh Nam Nguyen and Chi Dung Long have catapulted themselves into the big league of international pool with a string of brave performances and their easy-going antics have made them a hit with Welsh audiences too.Who do you think will win? Discuss World Cup of Pool here. View the World Cup of Pool Tournament Brackets The duo were ecstatic following their win and with a guaranteed US $8,000 each – three times the national average wage - for reaching the semis, they had every reason to smile.
Following wins over Croatia , Holland and now Italy , the Vietnamese will be full of confidence for their semi-final match against either USA or Hong Kong . The Italian pairing of Fabio Petroni and Angelo Millauro were always in the match and did well to level things up at 7 all from 7-5 down and when they broke for the match at 8-7 they must have believed the win was theirs. Vietnam started where they left off last night, following their last-gasp win over Holland as they took the opening rack. Petroni and Millauro, once again sporting their slick designer outfits, took the next before the Vietnamese regained their lead in the third. A poor safety from the underdogs left a makeable cross table bank shot on the 5 and Millauro took it on to set up the run out for the Italians which took the score to 2-2. Vietnam put Italy in a tight snooker and, racing against the clock, Millauro failed to make contact to give ball in hand to Vietnam and they ran through the balls, including superb table-length bank on the 6 ball to go to 3-2. They took the next as well against the break to put some space between themselves and their opponents. The Italians got to the table with some good fortune in the next and completed the run out to get back to 3-4 down before they won the eighth with their break to level things up at 4-4 in what was a thrilling match. Millauro missed a long blue 2 trying to force position and the Vietnamese took full advantage to get to 5-4. There was more misery for Angelo in the tenth game as he missed a straight 1 ball to give another good chance for the Vietnamese. The pairing of Nguyen and Luong took full advantage to get to 6-4. It was one-way traffic now as the Vietnam pair took the next with the break and Italy now had it all to do. Faced with a very difficult long pot on the 6 ball cueing off the rail, Petroni elected to play safe and pulled off a superb snooker. The one was hanging in the middle pocket but Luong failed to make contact and the Italians completed an easy run out to reduce the deficit to 7-5. The Asians had no shot on the 1 ball following their break off and pushed out, potting the 7 ball to decongest the top end of the table. However, the Italians got the upper hand and fought back to take the rack and reduce the deficit to just the single rack at 6-7. Showing great fortitude, Italy took the rack with their break to win their third consecutive rack and tie up the score at 7-7. But Luong was not finished as he pulled off a terrific bank shot with the 1 ball tight on the rail to give his team a great chance. With nerves beginning to tell Nguyen snatched at an easy pink 5 and left it in the jaws of the pocket. The confident Italians pocketed the remaining five balls to take the lead at 8-7 and put themselves on the brink of a semi-final spot. There was some tense safety play at the beginning of the 16th rack and both sides had opportunities to assert themselves but the risks always seemed to outweigh the rewards and the Vietnamese found the necessary opening to square things up. The lag came into play again as Vietnam broke off in their third consecutive hill-hill match. A fantastic 7/1 combination from Nguyen, under severe pressure, gave his side a great chance but a poor positional shot from Thanh piled more pressure on his partner. He rose to the occasion and made a tremendous table-length shot to take out the 2 ball and from there the Vietnamese held their nerve to record another magnificent 9-8 victory.

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