Robbie Capito experienced the biggest day of his young career as the Hong Kong youngster overcame both Joshua Filler and Fedor Gorst in two seismic shocks to reach the semi-finals of the UK Open Pool Championship in Telford.
Capito was one of four surprise semi-finalists to emerge at the Telford International Centre as Mieszko Fortunski, Petri Makkonen and Pijus Labutis continued their charge towards the $30,000 top prize, the latter of who ended Eklent Kaci’s reign as UK Open champion.
Both of Capito’s significant scalps followed similar paths as the 22-year-old dominated the early exchanges and subsequently needed to fend off spirited comebacks. He led 5-1 against both Gorst and Filler but ultimately came through closely-contested affairs.
Having beaten newly-crowned World Pool Masters champion Gorst, the world number 55 was displaying unshakable confidence, punishing Filler’s uncharacteristic misses and obtaining a seemingly unassailable 7-1 lead.
Nevertheless, a couple of misses on the tricky middle pockets proved costly for Capito as Filler battled back. Capito struck a questionable safety shot whilst on the hill but, despite that poor mistake, he took full advantage in the deciding rack following a missed four ball from Filler.
“I was told that it was race to eleven the whole match,” Capito told Sky Sports post-match. “I looked at the screen and it was race to ten, I looked at the screen behind me and it was race to ten as well. It was then suddenly hill-hill and I was lucky to have another chance.
“It was an amazing match. He struggled a bit at the beginning and he missed a lot but it was back and forth. I was up 7-1 and then he just came back. I was feeling the pressure then so I had to control myself.
“That’s been my weakness, my mental strength and my emotion control. It wasn’t that good when I was younger but I’m controlling it more and I’m learning a lot. I’m trying to put the win behind and stay in the moment.”
US Open quarter-finalist Capito will encounter Pijus Labutis in the semi-finals after he dethroned 2023 champion Eklent Kaci to continue his sparking form. The world number 24 reached the semi-finals of an open championship for the second time following his Spanish Open exploits ten months ago.
The Derby City Classic runner-up hit the ground running against the defending champion, who had defeated Shane van Boening in the afternoon, with Kaci being left to rue a couple of costly scratches from the break as well as a missed eight ball early in the tie.
Labutis struck a four ball down the rail with too much power in rack eight and rattled the pocket with an incredible jump shot attempt for a 7-4 lead, but the Lithuanian outperformed Kaci and proved a deserved semi-finalist.
Meanwhile, Petri Makkonen, who won the 2012 World Cup of Pool alongside Mika Immonen, reached his maiden major semi-final, holding his nerve in a deciding rack to beat two-time world champion Albin Ouschan 10-9.
Finland’s Makkonen, who followed his win over Francisco Sanchez Ruiz by beating Skyler Woodward, emerged into an 8-3 lead, only for Ouschan to claim six of the next seven racks and force an unforeseen decider.
Ouschan broke dry in the all-important rack before Makkonen attempted a two-nine combination, almost fluking the nine in the opposite pocket. A misjudged safety allowed Makkonen to clear the table, notably executing a sensational shot for position on the six ball.
Makkonen will encounter Poland’s Mieszko Fortunski in the semi-finals, with Fortunski having compiled four break and runs in a 10-4 win over Ko Ping-Chung in the last 16 before scuppering the fairytale run of Germany’s Tobias Bongers.
Bongers defeated three major champions on his way to a maiden major quarter-final in the West Midlands, brushing aside Ko Pin-Yi in the last 16 following prior victories over top ten stars Jayson Shaw and David Alcaide.
