Hunger denies Hong Kong’s Robbie Capito gold chance at Diamond Oklahoma Winter Classic 9-Ball
- Capito suffers shaking hands and loses in semi-finals after playing non-stop from 11am until 10pm
- The Hongkonger was eventually beaten 9-2 by former ESPN world champion CJ Wiley
Nothing seemed like it was going to stop Hong Kong pool player Robbie Capito from winning in the US on Monday, until an empty stomach took over.
The 20-year-old narrowly lost in the semi-finals of the Diamond Oklahoma Winter Classic 9-Ball to 58-year-old American player CJ Wiley 9-2, and finished with a bronze medal after more than 10 hours without food.
Captio said he was so hungry at the end of a marathon 10-hour day at a tournament involving 115 players that his hands were shaking.
“Hunger really got the best of me in my last match from playing all day, my hands were shaking,” Capito said. “I was so hungry at the last match and couldn’t perform well, but it was a great experience all in all.”
Such was the intensity of the event, Capito played five tough matches between 11am and 10pm on the last day of the tournament, and could not find time to eat in between.
The three-day tournament began on Saturday, and Capito progressed through the first three rounds, including racking up an impressive 11-8 win over reigning US Open champion Carlo Biado.
But the Hongkonger suffered a setback in Sunday’s fourth, when he lost 11-8 to eventual winner Roberto “Superman” Gomex. That defeat sent him into the losers’ half of the draw, meaning he then faced 10 more matches to fight for a title.
With a win-or-go-home schedule starting at 11am, Capito played one match at a time, and beat Biado again before he ran out of steam in the final four.
Battling an empty stomach and shaking hands, as well as former ESPN world champion Wiley, Capito lost 9-2 and took home with a bronze medal and a cheque for around HK$31,000.
From Oklahoma, Capito moves on to Nevada for the Las Vegas Open, which starts on March 23, and is considered a warm-up for the Predator World Ten-Ball Championship the following week.