17 Year Old Hong Kong Native Capito Stuns Kaci To Reach Final 16

Dec 17, 2018

*Photo of Robbie Capito courtesy of Dream Sport
Management



(Doha, Qatar)--Up until the very last
moments of the round of 32 today, this year’s World 9-ball Championship was
notable for its lack of upsets that always seem to be a hallmark of this annual
9-ball extravaganza. That is until Robbie Capito decided he wasn’t going away
quietly.



Robbie Capito? Yeah, don’t be surprised that you haven’t heard of him. Not many outside of his native Hong Kong have. But this cool headed and fearless 17 year old of Filipino descent pulled off what is easily the biggest upset of this year’s championship, and one of the biggest we have seen in years here in Doha, when he came back from certain defeat and took down the world number one, Klenti Kaci, 11-10, to move into the final 16.



Only minutes before, Capito looked like he would be exiting the
Al Arabi Sports Club as unknown as he was when entered at the start of his
match. He trailed the mighty Albanian 7-1. He then slowly clawed his way back
into the match, but it didn’t quite seem enough. Down 10-8, surely the steady
Kaci would close out the match and move into the round of 16 on Wednesday.



Capito, who had earlier defeated Lebanon’s Mazen Berjaoui in the
round of 64, never gave up, and he tied the score at 10 all. Breaking in the
final frame and clearly under duress, he held his nerve and closed out the rack
to notch an unlikely win, and an even more unlikely spot in the final 16 at the
World 9-ball Championship.



Capito, who speaks four languages and is still in high school,
will now go on to face Germany’s Joshua Filler when the tournament resumes on
Wednesday.(the tournament will have a day off on Tuesday as Qatar celebrates
its National Day.)  The Hong Kong native will have to reach into his bag
of tricks to stop the flashy young German, as Filler has looked unstoppable so
far. The German played his trade marked fast and loose style in two easy wins
so far, first against Greece’s Nikolas Malaj and then Vietnam’s Nguyen Anh
Tuan.



Corey Duel of the USACarlo Biado of the PhilippinesRobbie Capito of Hong KongNiels Feijen of the Netherlands



If you like the youth movement in pool, you certainly want to
pay attention to another 17 year old who has been turning heads this week. Like
Capito, Poland’s Wiktor Zielinski is still in high school and can boast world
class talent. The young Pole proudly displayed his formidable wares today in
two solid wins, first against fellow Pole Tomasz Kaplan, and then the
Philippines Johann Chua.



It will surely be fascinating to watch how Zielinski handles the
likes of Albin Ouschan in the round of 16. The Austrian, who won this event in
2016, is playing top notch pool and looks impervious to the pressure. Ouschan’s
two strong wins today showed he has the goods to go all the way this year.



Defending champion Carlo Biado stayed on track to defend his
title, and he is also now the only Filipino left in the field.  After two
wins today Biado will engage in a fascinating matchup in the last 16 against
former world 9-ball champion, and China’s last hold out, Wu Jiaqing.



America’s Shane Van Boening continued his march through the
field today with two steady wins. Van Boening played with his characteristic laid
back style, but always on point when he needed to be. After losing in the final
here in 2015 and 2016, the American seems to be carrying a bit of a chip on his
shoulder.  It’s victory on nothing for Van Boening, and with the way he is
performing now, he could be considered the favorite.



SVB, though, will first have to get through a red hot Chris
Melling of England in a match that already has pool fans around the world
salivating. Melling played in his usual swashbuckling in his two victories
today but will have to step it up several notches to take down the determined
Van Boening.



Corey Duel is the only other American remaining in the field.
The veteran always plies his trade in characteristic quiet and laid back
fashion and this week, these traits have served him well. Duel earned his spot
in the final 16 with two workmanlike performances first against Canada’s John
Morra and then versus Spain’s Francisco Diaz Pizarro.



Duel, though, hasn’t yet faced anything like what he will be up
against on Wednesday when he matches wits with Taiwan’s Ko Pin Yi. Ko, who won
the China Open this year and won this event in 2015, hammered compatriot Liu Ri
Teng in the round of 64, 11-5, then did it one better to Korea’s Woo Seung Ryu,
11-4.



The Taiwanese are proving yet again that they are arguably the world’s strongest pool playing nation with a quarter of the final 16. It will be an all Taiwan matchup when Lin Ta Li takes on world number two, Chang JungLin. Chang had struggled in the group stages but shook off the rust today andlooked his old killer self. In the round of 32 he disposed of hall of famer Ralf Souquet, 11-6.



Lin Wu Kun’s beautiful cue action led him to the semi-finals
here last year and this year he appears to feel he can get there again or even
more. Lin had to scrape his way into the final 16 in an 11-10 nail biter
against China’s Liu Haitao. 



Lin will face Finland’s suddenly red hot Petri Makkonen. The
hard working Finn put in a tremendous effort today with wins over Filipino
Jeffrey Ignacio, 11-9, then young Russian Fedor Gorst, 11-8.



World number six Niels Feijen has that same look he had when he
marched to the crown here in 2014. The Dutchman looked untouchable in his two
big wins today and he is admittedly confident and playing without pressure. In
the round of 16 he’ll have to square off with his Mosconi Cup teammate Alex
Kazakis. The Greek grinded out two tough wins today, first 11-10 over Poland’s
Radislaw Babica, then over Finland’s Casper Matikainen, 11-9. 



After a day off where the country celebrates the Qatar National
Day, play resumes on Wednesday, December 19 at 11am Doha time(GMT +3.)



The winner of the 2018 World 9-ball Championship will receive
$40,000. The runner up will receive $20,000. The total prize fund is $200,000.



Fans around the world can watch four tables on our free live
stream which can be accessed via the live scoring page here; http://www.esnooker.pl/live/en/tsnew.php



 Click the tables where you see the word "Video"
and you will be taken to Youtube to watch the match. Tables 1, 7,8,9. Please visit the WPA Facebook Page for more information.



To view the Final 64 bracket, please CLICK HERE.



*The 2018 WPA World 9-ball Championship takes
place at the Al Arabi Sports
Club Sports Club in Doha, Qatar from December 10-20, 2018. The event is
hosted by The Qatar Billiard and Snooker Federation(QBSF), and is sanctioned by
The World Pool Billiard Association, the governing body of the sport of pool.



The WPA is on Twitter; @poolwpa



Visit the official website of the WPA at www.wpapool.com



The players will compete on Wiraka DYNASTY  Tables with Simonis 860
Cloth, Electric Blue Color and using Aramith Tournament  Pro
cup TV Pool Balls featuring the new Duramith Technology.



Media coverage of the 2018 World 9-ball
Championship is being supported by the American Poolplayers Association(APA).
  Join the World's Largest Pool League today
at http://bit.ly/2G5vYZY.  Please visit join.poolplayers.com



Final
16 Matchups
December 19, 11am Doha Time(GMT +3)



Robbie
Capito (HKG) vs. Joshua Filler (GER)
Albin Ouschan (AUT) vs. Wiktor Zielinski (POL)



Niels
Feijen (NED) vs. Alexandros Kazakis (GRE)
Corey Duel (USA) vs. Ko Pin Yi (TPE)



Carlo
Biado (PHL) vs. Wu Jiaqing (CHN)
Petri Makkonen (FIN) vs.  Lin Wu Kun ( (TPE)

Chris Melling (GBR) Shane Van Boening (USA)
Lin Ta Li (TPE) vs. Jung Lin Chang (TPE)



Final
32 Results



Robbie
Capito (HKG) 11 -10 Ekent Kaci (ALB)   
Joshua Filler (GER) 11 – 6 Nguyen Anh Tuan (VET)   



Albin
Ouschan (AUT) 11 – 8 Roland Garcia (PHL) 
Wiktor Zielinski (POL) 11 – 5 Johann Chua (PHL)

Niels Feijen (NED) 11 – 1 Mateusz Sniegocki (POL)
Alexandros Kazakis (GRE) 11 – 9 Casper Matikainen (FIN)  




Corey Duel (USA) 11 – 7 Francisco Diaz-Pizarro (ESP) 
Ko Pin Yi (TPE) 11 – 4 Woo Seung Ryu (KOR)   

Carlo Biado (PHL) 11 – 7 Konrad Juszczyszyn (POL)
Wu Jiaqing (CHN) 11 – 6  Toru Kuribayashi (JPN)

Petri Makkonen (FIN) 11 - 8 Fedor Gorst (RUS)
Lin Wu Kun ( (TPE) 11 – 10 Liu Haitao (CHN)   



Chris
Melling (GBR) 11 -1 2 Yukio Akagariyama (JPN)    
Shane Van Boening (USA)  11 – 7  Jalal Al Sarisi (VEN)



Lin
Ta Li (TPE)  11 – 7 Sharik Aslam Sayed (SIN)
Jung Lin Chang (TPE) 11 – 6 Ralf Souquet (GER)   



Results
Final 64



Ekent
Kaci (ALB) 11 – 4 vs. Bing Chen Gao (CHN)
Robbie Capito (HKG) 11 – 4 Mazen Berjaoui (LEB)



Nguyen
Anh Tuan (VET) 11 – 4 vs.Wang Can (CHN)
Joshua Filler (GER) 11 – 5  Nikolas Malaj (GRE)

Roland Garcia (PHL) 11 – 7 vs. Waleed Majid (QAT)
Albin Ouschan (AUT) 11 – 6 vs. Hsieh Chia Chen (TPE)



Wiktor
Zielinski (POL) 11 – 4 vs. Tomasz Kaplan (POL)
Johann Chua (PHL) 11 – 2 vs. Phone Myint Kyaw (MYR)



Niels
Feijen (NED) 11 – 4 vs. Bader Alawadhi (KUW)
Mateusz Sniegocki (POL) vs.11 – 5 Ko Ping Han (TPE)



Casper
Matikainen (FIN) vs. 11 – 5 Takano Tomoo (JPN)
Alexandros Kazakis (GRE) vs. 11 – 10 Radoslaw Babica (POL)



Francisco
Diaz-Pizarro (ESP) vs. 11 – 10 Naoyuki Oi (JPN)
Corey Duel (USA) 11 – 6 John Morra (CAN)



Woo
Seung Ryu (KOR) 11 – 8 vs. Konstantin Stepanov (RUS)
Ko Pin Yi (TPE) 11 – 5 vs. Liu Ri Teng (TPE)



Carlo
Biado (PHL) 11 – 9  vs. Vitaliy Patsura (UKR)
Konrad Juszczyszyn (POL) vs. 11 -7 Wen Lo Li (TPE)

Wu Jiaqing (CHN) 11 – 4 Tomoya Iima ( (JPN)
Toru Kuribayashi (JPN) 11 – 7 Francisco Sanchez-Ruiz (ESP)

Petri Makkonen (FIN) 11 – 9 Jeffrey Ignacio (PHL)
Fedor Gorst (RUS) 11 – 6 Wojciech Sroczynski (POL)



Liu
Haitao (CHN) 11 – 6 Alex Pagulayan (CAN)
Lin Wu Kun ( (TPE) 11 – 4 Maximilian Lechner (AUT)



Yukio
Akagariyama (JPN) 11 -  8 Ko Ping Chung (TPE)
Chris Melling (GBR) 11 – 8 Hsu Jui An (TPE)



Shane
Van Boening (USA) 11 – 7 Yu Hsuan Cheng (TPE)
Jalal Al Sarisi (VEN) 11 – 10 Dang Jinhu (CHN)



Lin
Ta Li (TPE) 11 – 9 Jeffrey De Luna (PHL)
Sharik Aslam Sayed (SIN) 11 – 10 Aloysius Yapp (SIN) 



Ralf
Souquet (GER) 11 – 6 Ruslan Chinahov (RUS)
Jung Lin Chang (TPE) 11 – 1 Omar Al Shaheen (KUW)