Here are some aggregate break statistics from the 2015 WPA World 9-Ball Championship played this week in Doha, Qatar, with free live streaming by Kozoom.
The conditions for this event included: Wiraka 9-foot tables, Simonis 860 Tournament Blue cloth, Magic Rack, Super Aramith Pro TV balls with the measles cue ball, alternate breaks, breaker racks with the 1-ball on the foot spot and the 2-ball at the back of the rack, break from anywhere behind the line, jump cues allowed, WPA rules (all slop counts, foul on all balls) except it is an illegal break unless at least 3 balls are pocketed or pass the head string.
The 23 matches (340 games tracked) that I watched were as follows. This sample is 10% of the total number of matches and games played in the event.
Overall results -- The breaker made at least one ball (and did not break illegally or foul) 88% of the time (300 of 340), won 62% of the games (210 of 340), and broke and ran 37% of the games (126 of 340).
Here's a more detailed breakdown of the 340 games.
Break-and-run games: The 126 break-and-run games represented 37% of all 340 games, 60% of the 210 games won by the breaker, and 42% of the 300 games in which the break was successful (made a ball, legal, no foul).
With alternating breaks, B&R "packages" of the normal type are not possible. But we can still look at the breaks of a given player and see how many he ran on his own successive breaks, and we can call these "alternate-break packages." The 126 break-and-run games (including 9's on the break) consisted of 3 alternate-break 4-packs, 4 alternate-break 3-packs, 20 alternate-break 2-packs, and 62 singles.
9-balls on the break: The 126 break-and-run games included just three 9-balls on the break (0.9% of the 340 breaks). With the Magic Rack, the 9-ball tends to remain close to its original position.
Observation: As was true in this event last year, the effects of using the Magic Rack were quite striking. On all 15 scratches on the break, at least one object ball was pocketed. So, in total, the breaker failed to make a ball on the break in only 11 of the 340 breaks (3.2%), an enormous difference from when the Magic Rack is not used. The high stay-at-table percentage after the break means many more opportunities to run out, so the B&R percentage is also high.
The conditions for this event included: Wiraka 9-foot tables, Simonis 860 Tournament Blue cloth, Magic Rack, Super Aramith Pro TV balls with the measles cue ball, alternate breaks, breaker racks with the 1-ball on the foot spot and the 2-ball at the back of the rack, break from anywhere behind the line, jump cues allowed, WPA rules (all slop counts, foul on all balls) except it is an illegal break unless at least 3 balls are pocketed or pass the head string.
The 23 matches (340 games tracked) that I watched were as follows. This sample is 10% of the total number of matches and games played in the event.
Sat., Sept. 12
Y. Akagariyama defeated F. Sanchez-Ruiz 9-8
R. Souquet d. J-L Chang 9-8
R. Chinakhov d. L. Vann Corteza 9-6
S. Van Boening d. O. Salem 9-6
Sun., Sept. 13
D. Orcollo d. F. Diaz-Pizarro 9-4
A. Yapp d. D. Appleton 9-5
Y-H Cheng d. M. Chamat 9-6
P. Makkonen d. S. Gulati 9-8
Mon., Sept. 14
Y. Akagariyama d. C-S Yang 9-6
S. Van Boening d. R. Jones 9-5
M. Gray d. A. Yapp 9-7
Tues, Sept. 15
J. Chua d. J-L Chang 9-6
R. Chinakhov d. N. Van Den Berg 9-4
F-P Chao d. K. Boyes 9-7
Wed., Sept. 16
C. Biado d. L. V. Corteza 11-5
Y. Akagariyama d. J. Chua 11-5 (stats from only 10 games because of streaming outages)
S. Van Boening d. T. Kaplan 11-3 (stats from only 11 games)
R. Chinakhov d. A. Gabica 11-5 (stats from only 14 games)
Thurs., Sept. 17
W. Can d. R. Chinakhov 11-7
S. Van Boening d. Y-L Chang 11-5
S. Van Boening d. D. Orcollo 11-1
Fri., Sept. 18
S. Van Boening d. P-C Ko 11-1
P-Y Ko d. S. Van Boening 13-11 -- Finals (stats from only 19 games)
Overall results -- The breaker made at least one ball (and did not break illegally or foul) 88% of the time (300 of 340), won 62% of the games (210 of 340), and broke and ran 37% of the games (126 of 340).
Here's a more detailed breakdown of the 340 games.
Breaker broke legally, made at least one ball, and did not foul:
Breaker won the game: 200 (59% of the 340 games)
Breaker lost the game: 100 (29%)
Breaker made at least one ball and did not foul, but broke illegally:
Breaker won the game: 5 (1%)
Breaker lost the game: 9 (3%)
Breaker fouled on the break:
Breaker won the game: 2 (1%)
Breaker lost the game: 13 (4%)
Breaker broke dry (without fouling, but includes the 2 breaks that were both dry and illegal):
Breaker won the game: 3 (1%)
Breaker lost the game: 8 (2%)
Therefore, whereas the breaker won 62% (210) of all 340 games,
He won 67% (200 of 300) of the games in which he broke legally, made at least one ball on the break, and did not foul.
He won 36% (5 of 14) of the games in which he made at least one ball and did not foul, but broke illegally.
He won 13% (2 of 15) of the games in which he fouled on the break.
He won 27% (3 of 11) of the games in which he broke dry but did not foul.
He won 25% (10 of 40) of the games in which he either broke illegally, fouled on the break, or broke dry without fouling.
Break-and-run games: The 126 break-and-run games represented 37% of all 340 games, 60% of the 210 games won by the breaker, and 42% of the 300 games in which the break was successful (made a ball, legal, no foul).
With alternating breaks, B&R "packages" of the normal type are not possible. But we can still look at the breaks of a given player and see how many he ran on his own successive breaks, and we can call these "alternate-break packages." The 126 break-and-run games (including 9's on the break) consisted of 3 alternate-break 4-packs, 4 alternate-break 3-packs, 20 alternate-break 2-packs, and 62 singles.
9-balls on the break: The 126 break-and-run games included just three 9-balls on the break (0.9% of the 340 breaks). With the Magic Rack, the 9-ball tends to remain close to its original position.
Observation: As was true in this event last year, the effects of using the Magic Rack were quite striking. On all 15 scratches on the break, at least one object ball was pocketed. So, in total, the breaker failed to make a ball on the break in only 11 of the 340 breaks (3.2%), an enormous difference from when the Magic Rack is not used. The high stay-at-table percentage after the break means many more opportunities to run out, so the B&R percentage is also high.
Last edited: