Stats -- 2026 Phoenix Open (9-Ball), August 2026

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Here are a few aggregate statistics from several of the Stage 2 matches of the 2026 Phoenix Open 9-Ball event played August 18-22 at the Metro Sportz Bar & Grill in Phoenix, AZ. This was a ranking event for the World Nineball Tour. Pay-per-view streaming was available on wnttv.com. The commentators were Karl Boyes and Scott Frost. The referee was Chuck Parrill. Aleksa Pecelj won the event, defeating Oliver Szolnoki in the final match.

124 players entered the event (128 less 4 no-shows). The format was double-elimination down to 32 players (16 from the winners' side and 16 from the one-loss side), with single-elimination (Stage 2) play from that point to the conclusion.

The 6 matches (103 games) I tracked were all of the matches streamed on the feature "TV Table" from the Last 32 round to the end.

The conditions for the streamed matches included:
• Diamond 9-foot table with 4¼" corner pockets;​
• Simonis 860 Shark Grey cloth;​
• Dynaspheres Titan Series balls with a black-rotor-shaped-spots cue ball;​
• racking template, with the 9-ball on the foot spot and the 2-ball on one of the wings or in the back location;​
• the referee racked in the Final, the breaker racked his own in Match 4 below, and the breaker's opponent racked in the other 4 matches;​
• winner breaks from behind the head string in a box approximately 8" to either side of the long string;​
• shot clock only in the semifinal and final matches -- 30 sec. (60 after the break or a push out) with one 30-sec. extension per player per rack;​
• jump cues allowed;​
• foul on all balls;​
• 3-foul rule in effect (no games in these matches were lost on 3 consecutive fouls);​
• all slop counts; and​
• lag for opening break.​

The 6 tracked matches (103 games) were as follows.

Friday, Aug. 21
1. Joshua Filler defeated Moritz Neuhausen 10-8 (Last 32)​
2. Robbie Capito d. Shane Van Boening 10-6 (Last 32)​
3. Aloysius Yapp d. Albert Januarta 10-6 (Last 16)​

Saturday, Aug. 22
4. Aleksa Pecelj d. Filler 10-6 (Quarterfinal)​
5. Oliver Szolnoki d. Carlo Biado 11-4 (Semifinal)​
6. Pecilj d. Szolnoki 13-9 (Final)​

Results

• Successful breaks (made at least one ball and did not foul) -- 70% (72 of 103)​
• Breaker won the game -- 57% (59 of 103)​
- He won 71% (51 of 72) of the games in which the break was successful​
- He won 26% (8 of 31) of the games in which the break was unsuccessful (fouled or dry)​
• Break-and-run games on all breaks -- 25% (26 of 103)​
• Break-and-run games on successful breaks -- 36% (26 of 72)​
• B&R packages: one 3-pack (by Szolnoki), five 2-packs (2 by Capito, 2 by Szolnoki, and 1 by Yapp), and 13 singles​
• Games ending in 1 inning -- 45% (46 of 103)​
• Games going beyond the 2nd inning -- 36% (37 of 103)​
• Games run out by the player who at the table following the break -- 38% (39 of 103)​
• Games won by the player who made the first ball after the break -- 80% (82 of 102)​
• Games per missed shot (approx.) -- 2.3​
• Games per foul -- 3.2​
• Games with one or more safeties (approx.) -- 47%​
• Minutes per game -- 6.4​
• Winning 9-balls on the break -- 1​
 
I'm surprised about the successful break stats going down since the last event even though the corner pockets are way bigger. I felt like I was seeing loads of breaks with huge spreads.
 
I'm surprised about the successful break stats going down since the last event even though the corner pockets are way bigger. I felt like I was seeing loads of breaks with huge spreads.
Not way bigger, a 1/4" and they played like they were 4-1/8. There wasn't a big difference between these tables and the ones at the Arizona open which were 4". You could tell by looking at them that they were bigger, but they played not all that much easier.
 
I'm surprised about the successful break stats going down since the last event even though the corner pockets are way bigger. ...
Yes, successful breaks at 70% surprised me as well, since the last 4 events I tracked (all with smaller pockets) were all in the 80s. This was a pretty small sample, with just 103 games, but they involved 9 excellent pros. Scott Frost kept talking about how that TV table in that room plays quite different from others in WNT events -- faster and differently reacting cushions. Apparently some players complained about how it played.
 
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