KAOHSIUNG, Taiwan, July 9 - Nick Van den Berg snatched defeat from the jaws of victory by hooking himself in his hill-hill quarterfinal match against Rodney Morris at the World Pool Championship, allowing the American to atone for his own faux pas just a rack earlier.

At 10-10, Dutchman Van den Berg went long on his leave on a 4-ball shot and buried the cue ball behind the 8. A three-rail kick ended up in the corner pocket, handing the keys to victory to Morris.

"That was luck, luck, luck," said Morris, who was kicking himself for missing a makeable 1 ball when he lead 10-9.

A shaking Morris fought off severe nerves for the four remaining shots, preferring to bang them in instead of potentially goofing up any finesse shots.

"I really was feeling the pressure right there," he said. "But I was excited when he hooked himself."

Morris will meet Taiwanese hopeful Po-Cheng Kuo, who handled countryman Kun-Chang Huang, 11-7. They play later tonight at the Kaohsiung Business Exhibition Centre.