In a split second, things went south for John Patrick Poon. The bartender from Mius, in Hong Kong’s Central neighbourhood, was in the middle of preparing his station for the final round of the Diageo World Class Hong Kong and Macau cocktail competition on June 17, when his knife suddenly slipped and sliced open his thumb.

The competition was put on hold while Poon, the last contestant in the top four to present, received medical attention. Returning to the stage 30 minutes later with a gloved left hand, the 33-year-old was slightly flustered and visibly in discomfort. But Poon pressed ahead – though perhaps not at his usual speed – successfully making six cocktails for the judges in the allotted time of six minutes.

Poon, who was runner-up in the 2025 edition after narrowly losing to Quentin Luk (then representing Qura Bar), eventually clinched the victory he had been training for. The global competition, launched in 2009, is considered the “Olympics of bartending”, with notable winners from the Hong Kong and Macau edition including Antonio Lai of Quinary and Shelley Tai of Mius.

The finals, held on June 17 at the Palace Reserve Club at Wynn Palace in Macau, saw four bartenders (whittled down from eight finalists the day before) competing for the coveted spot at the Diageo World Class global finals, which will be held in Scotland this October.

Joining Poon in the Hong Kong and Macau finals were Brian Chan of Coa, Alice Cheng of The Bar at The Peninsula, and Nans Petit of Penicillin.