In one of the most exciting finals in the 44-year-history, top seeded Derek Eoff (pictured left with the trophy), United States, defeated No. 2 seed Martin Larsen, Sweden, two-games-to-one, to bring the men's title in the QubicaAMF Bowling World Cup home to the United States for the second consecutive year.

Men's Award Ceremonies. Click on the image to enlarge it.

Last year, Bill Hoffman became the first American man to win the World Cup since 1995. Eoff extended Team USA's winning streak at the World Cup to five as the Diandra Asbaty, Lynda Barnes and Shannon Pluhowsky have won the women's title from 2004-2006.

On the way to a 2-1 win over Larsen (pictured left) at Bol 300, Eoff rolled games of 221, 279 and 278 for a 778 series, the highest three-game set in a World Cup championship round.

"After the third frame of the first game, I changed to a ball that I hadn't thrown all week, and it turned out to be a pretty good guess," said Eoff, a Sport Bowling Coordinator for the United States Bowling Congress.

"I knew I had a really good reaction going into the second game, so it was just a matter of carry. When he kept striking, I knew I had to keep striking, too. When I won the second game the way I did, I knew I had the momentum going into the last game," said Eoff (pictured with Team USA head coach Jeri Edwards, left.)

Eoff lost the first game, 221-229, due to a slow start. The second game was strike fest from both players. Eoff and Larsen tied at 279 and the American continued to strike in roll-off en route to level the match, 59-37.

Eoff carried the momentum into the decisive game and posted another huge score to put the game and the match away well before the final frame, 279-196.

"When I first got involved in youth bowling, I never would've believed that one day I would be bowling for the World Cup," said Eoff. "This is a dream come true and feels absolutely amazing."

In the opening match, all matches were in best-of-three games format, Larsen defeated third-seeded Zulmazran Zulkifli (above) from Malaysia, 2-1. Zulkifli has rolled one of total five 300 games in this year's Wold Cup.

With his runner-up finish, Larsen and his teammate Helén Johnsson, (right) who landed in forth place in the women's division, won the Bent Petersen Country Award for the best team effort in this year's event.

Semifinal: #2 Larsen def. #3 Zulkifli, 2-1

In the first game of the semifinal, Zulmazran Zulkifli (right), Malaysia came out of the gates quickly and reeled off three consecutive strikes. Martin Larsen spared and countered with three strikes. The Swede took the lead when the Malaysian suffered back-to-back splits which both resulted in open frames. Larsen added two spares, strike spare, while Zulkifli recovered with strike, spare, double. When Larsen failed to convert the 2-10 split in the 9th frame, Zulkifli could force the Swede to double in the 10th frame. Instead he handed the win on a silver plate to Larsen, when he left a washout and failed to convert, 203-187.

Tides turned in game #2, when Zulkifli bowled a clean game and Larsen (pictured left) had two splits. The Malaysian had seven strikes including two turkeys in frames 4-6 and 8-10 and single-pins spares in frames 1, 3 and 7. Larsen had just one strike in the first seven frames but looked better at the end of the game when he double in frames 8 and 9. Zulkifli leveled the match, 237-180.

Disappointment for Zulkifli, who was trying to become the first player from Malaysia, man or woman, to win a World Cup. He started with a double, and then got a 4-6-7 split, rebounded with a strike and got 2-8-10 in the fifth frame. Larsen (right) meanwhile struck, spared 3-6-9-10 and then fired six consecutive strikes to take a comfortable 47 pin lead in frame six. Zulkifli countered with a double but when he left a 10-pin on the first ball in the 8th the match was practically over. Larsen cruised to victory with spare, strike, spare, 240-187.

Tournament leader Derek Eoff (left), United States, had a slow start into the final with three spares and a split in the first four frames. The two-time Team USA member and World Cup rookie struck on seven of his last eight shots to put some pressure on Martin Larsen. The three World Champion closed out his game with a four-bagger and a 7-count on his fill ball to take a 1-0 lead, 229-221.

Both players were line-up in the second game and struck on each of their first nine shots. When Eoff left a 2-pin standing on the first ball in the 10th, Larsen had his first match ball, despite Eoff spared and Struck for 279. Larsen  (right) burried his ball in the pocket but left a 10. He spared and struck to force a 9th and 10th frame roll-off.

Eoff had three strikes and a 9-count. The Swede struck on his first ball but the second 10-pin sealed his fate, 59-37, and Eoff leveled the match, 1.-1.

The tie-breaker went in favor for the American as he was able to continue to strike while Larsen had just one double. Eoff started with a double, spared a 10-pin in the third frame and reeled off eight consecutive strikes to coast to victory with 278-196 and two-games-to-one.

This year's World Cup featured 82 men and 63 women representing 85 countries. It was the event's second visit in Hermosillo, which also played host in 1994.

Friday's championship round was shown live on Mexican television TelMex. The men's final was also aired live on Eurosport 2 while the women's finals was taped and air on Saturday, Nov. 15, from 8.30 - 10 p.m. CET.