Player: Robbie Capito
Event: World Pool Championship
Location: Milton Keynes, U.K.
Date: June 8, 2021



Just a few days before his 20th birthday, Hong Kong’s Robbie Capito worked his way into the final 32 at the 2021 World Pool Championship. That’s heady stuff for a kid who couldn't yet buy himself a beer in the U.S. But the young sharpshooter had a little experience in the arena, having finished in ninth place at the 2018 World 9-Ball Championship, which included a thrilling 11-10 win over Eklent Kaçi, at the time the No. 1 player in the world.

For this match, Capito faced American journeyman Jeremy Sossei, who has been one of the strongest players on the East Coast for more than a decade, even if his international experience wasn't that deep. In this race-to-11, the veteran was the one with the early advantage, as Sossei jumped out to an early 3-0 lead, leaving Capito struggling to get something going. But faced with the situation shown in the diagram, he was seemingly given permission to take a flyer on a two-rail kick at the 2. Defensive possibilities weren't all that great, and the 2 ball was at least in the same ZIP code as the top right corner.

With a firm stroke, Capito sent the cue ball a smidge to the left of the far left diamond on the bottom rail, where it took an open angle off the long rail and into the 2. While the object ball rattled slightly before falling, the cue ball went off two more rails before stopping a few inches away from the 3 in a difficult position.

Capito was forced to play safe — and he was never able to build momentum in the match. Sossei maintained a lead throughout, eventually separating from the younger rising star en route to an 11-7 victory that put him in the quarterfinals, where he fell to David Alcaide, 11-4.


(Video clip provided by Accu-Stats Video Productions.)

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