World Nine-Ball Championship: Hong Kong-Filipino teen Robbie Capito stuns world No 1 Klenti Kaci after trailing 7-1
- The 17-year-old stages two amazing comebacks at 7-1 and 10-8 down to win 11-10
- He was born in Hong Kong of Filipino descent and has been playing since he was five
Seventeen-year-old Hong Kong pool player Robbie Capito caused one of the biggest upsets in World Nine-Ball Championship history when he battled back from 7-1 down to stun the top-ranked player and move into the last-16 of the tournament in Doha, Qatar.
The Hong Kong-born teen of Filipino descent had to qualify for the main event and few thought he would have any chance against Albania’s 19-year-old world number one Klenti Kaci. Indeed, when he trailed 7-1, it looked like the scholarship athlete from the Hong Kong Sports Institute feeder school Lam Tai Fai was heading home.
But Capito staged a mesmerising comeback from 7-1 and then 10-8 down to send tournament favourite Kaci tumbling out in the round of 32.
“I feel very surprised and never expected to beat him because he is the world number one, a very good player and favourite to win this competition,” said Tung Chung-based Capito, who has been playing pool since he was five years old. “So it is a big accomplishment for me.
“For the next round, I just want to focus on my game, don’t think about other stuff and concentrate on each shot and we’ll see what happens.”
Capito’s next opponent is Germany’s Joshua Filler, a 21-year-old rising star who won the 2017 China Open. Also through to tomorrow’s last-16 are China’s Wu Jiaquing, who takes on Filipino Carlo Biado,
There are also four Taiwanese players vying for quarter-final places – Wu Kun-lin, Pin Yi-ko, Ta Li-lin and Lin Chang-jung.
