Here are some aggregate break statistics from the 2023 European Open Pool Championship played August 8-13, 2023 at the Esperanto Congress and Cultural Center in Fulda, Germany. Pay-per-view streaming was provided in the USA on DAZN. This was a 256-player 9-Ball event, produced by Matchroom Sport, with double elimination down to 64 players (32 on the winners' side and 32 on the one-loss side) and then single-elimination to the end. David Alcaide won the tournament, defeating Anton Raga in the final match.
On the matches I watched, the commentators were Phil Yates, Michael McMullan, Jeremy Jones, and Karl Boyes; the referees were Marcel Eckardt, Desislava Bozhilova, Ben Taylor-Fuente, and Scott McMillan. The main announcer/interviewer was Abigail Davies. The MC was Arik Reiter.
Conditions -- The conditions for the streamed matches included:
These stats are for 16 matches (266 games) -- the 4 matches played on Table 1 in the Qualification rounds on Thursday, the 5 played on Table 1 in the Last 64 and Last 32 rounds on Friday, and the 7 matches played on the "TV Table" on the weekend. These 16 matches are listed here in the order in which they were played.
Thursday, August 10
Friday, August 11
Saturday, August 12
Sunday, August 13
Overall results
Here's a breakdown of the 266 games (for match winners and losers combined).
Break-and-run games -- The 65 break-and-run games represented 24% of all 266 games, 43% of the 150 games won by the breaker, and 35% of the 185 games in which the break was successful (made a ball and didn't foul).
The 65 break-and-run games consisted of 14 2-packs, and 37 singles. No one in these 16 matches broke and ran more than 2 games in a row.
9-Balls on the break -- The 65 break-and-run games included 6 9-balls on the break (2.3% of all breaks). In addition, one 9-ball was made on a fouled break.
On the matches I watched, the commentators were Phil Yates, Michael McMullan, Jeremy Jones, and Karl Boyes; the referees were Marcel Eckardt, Desislava Bozhilova, Ben Taylor-Fuente, and Scott McMillan. The main announcer/interviewer was Abigail Davies. The MC was Arik Reiter.
Conditions -- The conditions for the streamed matches included:
• Diamond 9-foot tables with 4" corner pockets;
• Simonis 860 Shark Grey cloth;
• Aramith Tournament Black balls with a black-spots cue ball;
• Magic Ball Rack racking template;
• referee racks with the 9-ball on the foot spot (2-ball not necessarily in back location);
• winner breaks from behind the head string in a box approximately 8" to either side of the long string;
• no illegal-break rule, but referees enforce a forceful-break requirement;
• no shot clock until the Last 16, then a 30-second shot clock (60 sec. after the break), with one 30-sec. extension per player per rack;
• foul on all balls;
• 3-foul rule in effect (occurred twice);
• jump cues allowed;
• all slop counts; and
• lag for the break in each match.
These stats are for 16 matches (266 games) -- the 4 matches played on Table 1 in the Qualification rounds on Thursday, the 5 played on Table 1 in the Last 64 and Last 32 rounds on Friday, and the 7 matches played on the "TV Table" on the weekend. These 16 matches are listed here in the order in which they were played.
Thursday, August 10
1. Johann Chua defeated Jayson Shaw 9-6
2. Shane Van Boening d. James Aranas 9-6
3. Anton Raga d. Niels Feijen 9-3
4. Mika Immonen d. Chris Melling 9-8
Friday, August 11
5. Ko Pin Yi d. Georgi Georgiev 10-1 (Last 64)
6. Joshua Filler d. Wiktor Zielinski 10-5 (Last 64)
7. Albin Ouschan d. Shaw 10-8 (Last 64)
8. Tyler Styer d. Skyler Woodward 10-4 (Last 32)
9. Francisco Sanchez-Ruiz d. Ralf Souquet 10-5 (Last 32)
Saturday, August 12
10. Filler d. Mieszko Fortunski 10-8 (Last 16)
11. Mario He d. Styer 10-5 (Last 16)
12. Filler d. Fedor Gorst 10-9 (Quarterfinal)
13. David Alcaide d. Sanchez-Ruiz 10-9 (Quarterfinal)
Sunday, August 13
14. Raga d. Filler 11-9 (Semifinal)
15. Alcaide d. Van Boening 11-7 (Semifinal)
16. Alcaide d. Raga 13-12 (Final)
Overall results
Successful breaks (made at least one ball and did not foul):
Match winners -- 71% (108 of 153)
Match losers -- 68% (77 of 113)
Total -- 70% (185 of 266)
Breaker won the game:
Match winners -- 65% (99 of 153)
Match losers -- 45% (51 of 113)
Total -- 56% (150 of 266)
Break-and-run games on all breaks:
Match winners -- 28% (43 of 153)
Match losers -- 19% (22 of 113)
Total -- 24% (65 of 266)
Break-and-run games on successful breaks (made at least one ball and did not foul):
Match winners -- 40% (43 of 108)
Match losers -- 29% (22 of 77)
Total -- 35% (65 of 185)
Here's a breakdown of the 266 games (for match winners and losers combined).
Breaker made at least one ball and did not foul:
Breaker won the game: 119 (45% of the 266 games)
Breaker lost the game: 66 (25%)
Breaker fouled on the break:
Breaker won the game: 3 (1%)
Breaker lost the game: 15 (6%)
Breaker broke dry (without fouling):
Breaker won the game: 28 (11%)
Breaker lost the game: 35 (13%)
Therefore, whereas the breaker won 56% (150 of 266) of all games,
He won 64% (119 of 185) of the games in which the break was successful (made at least one ball and did not foul).
He won 38% (31 of 81) of the games in which the break was unsuccessful (fouled or dry).
Break-and-run games -- The 65 break-and-run games represented 24% of all 266 games, 43% of the 150 games won by the breaker, and 35% of the 185 games in which the break was successful (made a ball and didn't foul).
The 65 break-and-run games consisted of 14 2-packs, and 37 singles. No one in these 16 matches broke and ran more than 2 games in a row.
9-Balls on the break -- The 65 break-and-run games included 6 9-balls on the break (2.3% of all breaks). In addition, one 9-ball was made on a fouled break.
