HONG Kong-born Filipino Robbie Capito ruled the 2024 UK Open Pool Championship after beating Mieszko Fortunski, 13-10, in the final at Telford International Centre on Monday (Manila time).
An unbelievable campaign for the 22-year-old cue artist saw him take home the USD30,000 (P1.73 million) cash prize.
“I’ve been working so hard for this tournament. My dad passed away when I was very young. He brought me to this sport and he never saw me get the trophy, so I just hope he’s proud of me up there,” he said.
Capito shook off a poor start which saw Fortunski take a 3-1 lead, going on a six-rack streak to take a 7-4 advantage.
But he still had his fair share of struggles, missing the 5-ball in rack 15 and had another crucial miss in rack 11 to narrow the score at 11-10.
Nerves of steel
This, however, was Capito’s day, showing nerves of steel late in the match as he wrapped the finale with a runout.
“I made it clear at the start of the week that I wasn’t just here to participate, I was here to win my first Matchroom Major. And today, I have achieved just that,” he said.
On his way to the crown, Capito took down Philip Wildman of UK, 9-5; Kuo Po Cheng of Chinese Taipei, 9-4; and Spain’s Jonas Souto Comino, 9-3, in stage one.
He would then hurdle fellow Hong Kong representative Lo Ho Sum in the round of 32, 10-4; Antonis Brabin of Cyprus in the round of 16, 10-7; 2022 champion Joshua Filler of Germany in the quarters, 10-9; and Lithuania’s Pijus Labutis in the semifinal, 11-9.
Filipino bets Carlo Biado, James Aranas, Bernie Regalario, Anton Raga, Jefrey Roda, and Jeffrey Ignacio all reached stage two of the tilt but the deepest the Filipinos got was the round of 16.
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