Break Stats -- 2026 WPA Men's 10-Ball World Championship

AtLarge

AzB Gold Member
Gold Member
Silver Member
Here are some aggregate break statistics from the 2026 Predator WPA World 10-Ball Championship played September 19-26, 2026 at the Phu Tho Indoor Stadium in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam with free streaming on Pro Billiard TV's YouTube channel. The commentators for the matches I watched were were Mark White, Ben Francis, Tim De Ruyter, George Teyechea, Erik Hjorleifson, and Gethin Davis. Wojciech Szewczyk won the event, defeating Eklent Kaçi in the final match.

This was an invitational 94-player event (96 less 2 no-shows) with double-elimination down to 32 players (16 from the winners' side and 16 from the one-loss side). The 16 players from the winners' side retained their same order in the the final bracket and the positions of the other 16 were drawn randomly. It was then single elimination to the end. In the double-elimination stage, each match was the best two out of three races to 4. In the single-elimination stage, each match was the best three out of five races to 4. In both the double- and single-elimination stages, if the score was tied at hill/hill (3-3) in the deciding set of the match, a shootout determined the winner of the set (and, therefore, of the match).

The 7 matches (159 games) I tracked were all of the matches that were streamed on feature Table 1 in the Winners' Qualification round, the Losers' Qualification round, and the single-elimination rounds. None of these matches ended with a shootout.

The conditions for the streamed matches included:
• Predator ARC 9-foot table with 4⅛" corner pockets and 4½" sides;​
• Tournament Blue cloth, either Predator Arcadia Reserve or Simonis (Simonis was a main sponsor of the event and the feature table's head cushion said "Predator X Simonis cloth");​
• Predator Arcos II balls, including a black-triangles cue ball;​
• Predator Arena lights;​
• referee racks using a Predator Aerorack triangle rack, with the 1-ball on the spot (2-ball and 3-ball need not be on the back corners);​
• winner breaks from anywhere behind the head string;​
• call shots (but not safes), with the opponent having a choice of shooting or passing it back after a ball is pocketed illegally;​
• early combinations or caroms on the 10-ball, if called, are not game winners; the 10-ball is spotted and the shooter continues;​
• a 10-ball made in any pocket on a break is spotted (not a game win);​
• jump cues allowed;​
• foul on all balls;​
• 3-foul rule in effect (no occurrences);​
• 30-second shot clock (60 seconds after the break and after a push out) with one 30-second extension allowed per player per game; and​
• lag for opening break.​

The 7 matches (159 games) I tracked were as follows, shown in the order in which they were played.

Tues. Sept. 22
1. Skyler Woodward defeated Kledio Kaçi 4-3, 4-3 (Winners' Qualification round)​

Wed. Sept. 23
2. Eklent Kaçi d. Duong Quoc Hoang 3-4, 4-1, 4-0 (Losers' Qualification round)​

Thurs. Sept. 24
3. Jayson Shaw d. Shane Van Boening 4-2, 4-2, 2-4, 2-4, 4-0 (Last 32)​

Fri. Sept. 25
4. Joshua Filler d. Jonas Souto 2-4, 4-0, 4-2, 4-0 (Last 16)​
5. E. Kaçi d. Robbie Caputo 3-4, 2-4, 4-3, 4-1, 4-2 (Quarterfinal)​

Sat. Sept. 26
6. E. Kaçi d. Filler 4-2, 2-4, 0-4, 4-1, 4-2 (Semifinal)​
7. Wojciech Szewczyk d. E. Kaçi 4-1, 1-4, 4-2, 4-3 (Final)​

Overall results

Successful breaks (made at least one ball and did not foul):​
Match winners -- 56% (49 of 87)​
Match losers -- 53% (38 of 72)​
Total -- 55% (87 of 159)​

Breaker won the game:
​
Match winners -- 60% (52 of 87)​
Match losers -- 43% (31 of 72)​
Total -- 52% (83 of 159)​

Break-and-run games on all breaks:
​
Match winners -- 24% (21 of 87)​
Match losers -- 11% (8 of 72)​
Total -- 18% (29 of 159)​

Break-and-run games on successful breaks (made at least one ball and did not foul):
​
Match winners -- 43% (21 of 49)​
Match losers -- 21% (8 of 38)​
Total -- 33% (29 of 87)​

Here's a breakdown of the 159 games (for match winners and losers combined).

Breaker made at least one ball and did not foul:​
Breaker won the game: 59 (37% of the 159 games)​
Breaker lost the game: 28 (18%)​
​
Breaker fouled on the break:​
Breaker won the game: 0 (0%)​
Breaker lost the game: 6 (4%)​
​
Breaker broke dry (without fouling):​
Breaker won the game: 24 (15%)​
Breaker lost the game: 42 (26%)​
​
Therefore, whereas the breaker won 52% (83 of 159) of all games,​
He won 68% (59 of 87) of the games in which the break was successful (made at least one ball and did not foul).​
He won 33% (24 of 72) of the games in which the break was unsuccessful (fouled or dry).​

Break-and-run games -- The 29 break-and-run games represented 18% of all 159 games, 35% of the 83 games won by the breaker, and 33% of the 87 games in which the break was successful (made a ball and didn't foul).

The 29 break-and-run games consisted of one 3-pack (E. Kaçi), one 2-pack (E. Kaçi), and 24 singles.

Two matches contained 8 B&Rs, 1 match had 5, and 4 matches had 2.

10-Balls on the break -- Only one 10-ball was made on the break (0.6% of all 159 breaks). It was spotted.
 
Miscellany from the data for the 2026 WPA Men's World 10-Ball Championship:
[This relates only to the 7 streamed matches I tracked, not to all matches in the event.]

■ The most balls made on a single break was 4, done just once, by E. Kaçi in a B&R.

■ The average number of balls made on the break was 0.8 (this includes dry and fouled breaks). On successful breaks (made at least one ball and did not foul), the average was 1.4.

■ Number of innings:
• 35% (56 of 159) of the games ended in one inning – 29 games on the breaker's first inning (B&Rs) and 27 games on the non-breaker's first inning.​
• 26% (41 of 159) of the games ended in the second inning.​
• 39% (62 of 159) of the games went beyond the non-breaker's second visit to the table. The game with the most innings ended on the non-breaker's 16th visit to the table.​

■ 29% (46 of 159) of the games were run out by the player who was at the table following the break. These run-outs were:
• By the breaker after successful breaks (B&R games) – 33% (29 of 87);​
• By the non-breaker after fouls on the break – 100% (6 of 6); and​
• By the non-breaker after dry breaks – 17% (11 of 66).​

■ The player who made the first ball after the break:
• Won the game in that same inning 50% of the time (80 of 159);​
• Won the game in a later inning 24% of the time (38 of 159); and​
• Lost the game 26% of the time (41 of 159).​

■ The loser won an average of 1.7 games in the 28 races to 4 in the 7 matches. Five of those 28 races ended at a score of 4-0, 5 at 4-1, 12 at 4-2, and 6 at 4-3.

■ The average minutes per game for the 159 games was 8.2. The elapsed time for each match was measured from the lag until the winning ball was made for the last race to 4, so it includes time for racking and timeouts between races.

■ The match that was longest in elapsed time, at about 4 hours and 43 minutes was E. Kaçi d. Capito. That match was also highest in average minutes per game, at 9.1. Excluding their 4 timeouts between sets, the average minutes per game for that match was about 8.4.

■ The match lowest in average minutes per game, at 7.3, was Shaw d. Van Boening.

■ Breaking fouls averaged 1 for every 26.5 games, other fouls 1 for every 3.2 games, and missed shots about 1 for every 2.0 games.

■ One or more safeties were played in about 55% of all games and 68% of games that were not B&Rs.
 
2025 vs. 2026

How do the stats compare for this year's World 10-Ball Championship versus those for last year? For both years, my stats are for the last 7 matches played on the feature Table 1 -- 169 games in 2025, and 159 games in 2026. I'm not aware of any significant differences between the years in rules and equipment.

These stats are for 2025 first, then 2026.

• Successful breaks -- 53%, 55%​
• Breaker won game -- 54%, 52%​
• B&R games on all breaks -- 18%, 18%​
• B&R games on successful breaks -- 34%, 33%​
​
• Games ending in 1 inning -- 35%, 35%​
• Games going beyond the 2nd inning -- 34%, 39%​
​
• Runouts by the player at the table following the break -- 30%, 29%​
• Games won by first player to make a ball after the break -- 75%, 74%​
​
• Games per missed shot (approx.) -- 1.7, 2.0​
• Games per foul -- 5.8, 2.9​
​
• Matches won by winner of lag -- 100% (7 of 7), 29% (2 of 7)​
• Minutes per game -- 7.2, 8.2​
• 10-balls on the break (spotted) -- 1, 1​
​
So, missed shots were a bit more frequent last year and fouls were a lot more frequent this year. Games lasted longer on average this year, but I think a good deal of that was because timeouts between sets, which were included in my elapsed time for each match, were more frequent this year. Otherwise, the stats for the two years were remarkably similar (except for the winner of the lag winning the match).
 
Back
Top