Up until the very last moments of the round of 32 on Monday, this year’s World 9-ball Championship was notable for its lack of upsets. That was until Robbie Capito decided he wasn’t going away quietly.
This cool-headed 17-year-old Hong Kong native pulled off what is easily the biggest upset of this year’s championship, when he came back from certain defeat and took down the world number one, Klenti Kaci, 11-10, to move into the final 16.
Capito, who is of Filipino descent, was trailing the mighty Albanian 1-7. He then slowly clawed his way back into the match to 8-10, when it looked like Kaci was going to close out the match. But Capito, who had earlier defeated Lebanon’s Mazen Berjaoui in the round of 64, never gave up, and tied the score at 10-all. Breaking in the final frame, he held his nerve and closed out the rack to notch a spot in the final 16.
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 today. 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 trademark fast and loose style in two easy wins so far, first against Greece’s Nikolas Malaj and then Vietnam’s Nguyen Anh Tuan.
Like Capito, Poland’s Wiktor Zielinski is still in high school and boasts world class talent. The young Pole proudly displayed his formidable wares today in two solid wins, first against fellow Pole Tomasz Kaplan, and then Johann Chua of the Philippines.
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.
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 on Monday, 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, who is coming off a fantastic Mosconi Cup win from a week ago, continued his march through the field with two steady wins and will first have to get through a red-hot Chris Melling of England today.
Corey Duel is the only other American remaining in the field. The veteran earned his spot in the final 16 with wins over Canada’s John Morra and Spain’s Francisco Diaz Pizarro. Duel will be up against Taiwan’s Ko Pin Yi today.
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.
It will be an all Taiwan matchup when Lin Ta Li takes on world number two, Chang Jung Lin. Chang had struggled in the group stages but shook off the rust today and looked his old killer self. In the round of 32 he disposed of hall of famer Ralf Souquet, 11-6.
Lin Wu Kun 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 Petri Makkonen, who beat Jeffrey Ignacio of the Philippines 11-9, and then young Russian Fedor Gorst 11-8.
World number six Niels Feijen looked untouchable in his two big wins on Monday. 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 yesterday, as the country celebrated the Qatar National Day, play resumes today at 11am. (WPA-Pool)