Break Stats -- 2024 World Pool Championship (9-Ball), June 2024

[AtLarge]

Here are some aggregate break statistics from the 2024 World Pool Championship played June 3-8, 2024 at Green Halls in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, with pay-per-view streaming in the USA on DAZN. This was a 128-player 9-Ball event, produced by Matchroom Sport, with double elimination (Stage 1) down to 64 players (32 on the winners' side and 32 on the one-loss side) and then single-elimination (Stage 2) to the end. Fedor Gorst won the tournament, defeating Eklent Kaçi in the final match.

The commentators on the feature TV Table were Phil Yates, Michael McMullan, Jeremy Jones, Karl Boyes, Scott Frost, and David Hendon. The referees on this table were Ben Taylor-Fuente, Julian Roper, and Marcel Eckardt. The main announcer/interviewer was Ade Oladipo and the MC was Tahir Hajat.

Conditions -- The conditions for the feature streamed matches included:

• Rasson Mr-Sung Accura 9-foot table with 4" corner pockets and 4¼" side 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 were to enforce a forceful-break requirement;​

• 30-second shot clock (60 sec. after the break and after a push out), with one 30-sec. extension per player per rack;​

• foul on all balls;​

• 3-foul rule in effect;​

• jump cues allowed;​

• all slop counts; and​

• lag for the break in each match.​

These stats are for all 23 matches (358 games) that were played on the main feature TV Table with commentary. These 23 matches include 7.5% of the 160 matches played in the double-elimination portion, 17.5% of the 63 matches played in the single-elimination portion, and 10.3% of the total of 223 matches played in the event. All matches in the double-elimination stage were races to 9. All matches in the single-elimination stage were races to 11 except for the final match, which was to 15. These 23 matches are listed here in the order in which they were played.

Monday, June 3

1. Francisco Sanchez-Ruiz defeated Waleed Albalkhi 9-2​

2. Jayson Shaw d. Jefrey Roda 9-4​

Tuesday, June 4

3. Shane Van Boening d. Fahad Alharbi 9-1​

4. Albert Manas d. John Morra 9-8​

5. Dang Jin Hu d. Carlo Biado 9-5​

6. Bernie Regalario d. Sam Henderson 9-3​

7. Fedor Gorst d. Luong Duc Thien 9-7​

Wednesday, June 5

8. Shaw d. Johann Chua 9-4​

9. Ko Ping Chung d. Darren Appleton 9-0​

10. Joshua Filler d. Hsieh Chin Chia 9-3​

11. Chris Melling d. Imran Majid 9-4​

12. Max Lechner d. Skyler Woodward 9-6​

Thursday, June 6

13. Mickey Krause d. Sanchez-Ruiz 11-7 (Last 64)​

14. Van Boening d. Wu Kun Lin 11-9 (Last 64)​

15. Mohammad Soufi d. Bader Alawadhi 11-7 (Last 32)​

16. Filler d. Oscar Dominguez 11-1 (Last 32)​

Friday, June 7

17. Johann Chua d. Soufi 11-8 (Last 16)​

18. Anton Raga d. Filler 11-7 (Last 16)​

19. Ekleng Kaçi d. Jeffrey Ignacio 11-7 (Quarterfinal)​

20. Gorst d. Raga 11-4 (Quarterfinal)​

Saturday, June 8

21. Kaçi d. Chua 11-6 (Semifinal)​

22. Gorst d. Wojciech Szewczyk 11-8 (Semifinal)​

23. Gorst d. Kaçi 15-14 (Final)​

Overall results

Successful breaks (made at least one ball and did not foul):​

Match winners -- 71% (158 of 222)​

Match losers -- 67% (91 of 136)​

Total -- 70% (249 of 358)​

Breaker won the game:​

Match winners -- 67% (149 of 222)​

Match losers -- 38% (52 of 136)​

Total -- 56% (201 of 358)​

Break-and-run games on all breaks:​

Match winners -- 21% (47 of 222)​

Match losers -- 15% (20 of 136)​

Total -- 19% (67 of 358)​

Break-and-run games on successful breaks (made at least one ball and did not foul):​

Match winners -- 30% (47 of 158)​

Match losers -- 22% (20 of 91)​

Total -- 27% (67 of 249)​

Here's a breakdown of the 358 games (for match winners and losers combined).

Breaker made at least one ball and did not foul:​

Breaker won the game: 158 (44% of the 358 games)​

Breaker lost the game: 91 (25%)​

​

Breaker fouled on the break:​

Breaker won the game: 2 (1%)​

Breaker lost the game: 12 (3%)​

​

Breaker broke dry (without fouling):​

Breaker won the game: 41 (11%)​

Breaker lost the game: 54 (15%)​

​

Therefore, whereas the breaker won 56% (201 of 358) of all games,​

He won 63% (158 of 249) of the games in which the break was successful (made at least one ball and did not foul).​

He won 39% (43 of 109) of the games in which the break was unsuccessful (fouled or dry).​

Break-and-run games -- The 67 break-and-run games represented 19% of all 358 games, 33% of the 201 games won by the breaker, and 27% of the 249 games in which the break was successful (made a ball and didn't foul).

The 67 break-and-run games consisted of 2 three-packs (one by Dang and one by Krause that included a 9-ball on the break), 6 two-packs, and 49 singles.

9-Balls on the break -- The 67 break-and-run games included 8 9-balls on the break (2.2% of all breaks).

 

[AtLarge]

Miscellany from the data for the 2024 World Pool Championship (9-Ball) event:
[This relates only to the 23 streamed matches I watched, not to all matches in the event.]

• The most balls made on a single break was 3, done just 4 times: once by Luong in a game he won by B&R and 3 times (twice by Filler and once by Ko PC) in games they won by making the 9-ball on the break.

• The average number of balls made on the break was 0.9 (this includes dry and fouled breaks). On successful breaks (made at least one ball and did not foul), the average was 1.3 and the distribution was 75% 1 ball, 23% 2 balls, and 1% 3 balls.

• Number of innings:

35% (127 of 358) of the games ended in one inning – 67 games on the breaker's first inning (B&Rs) and 60 games on the non-breaker's first inning.​

27% (98 of 358) of the games ended in the second inning.​

37% (133 of 358) of the games went beyond the non-breaker's second visit to the table. The game with the most innings ended on breaker's 9th visit to the table.​

• 28% (101 of 358) 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) – 27% (67 of 249)​

- By the non-breaker after fouls on the break – 86% (12 of 14)​

- By the non-breaker after dry breaks – 23% (22 of 95)​

• The player who made the first ball after the break:

- Won the game in that same inning 54% of the time (189 of 350)​

- Won the game in a later inning 20% of the time (70 of 350)​

- Lost the game 26% of the time (91 of 350)​

[Note -- total games used here are 350 rather than 358 to eliminate the 8 games in which no ball was made after the break.]​

• The loser won an average of 3.9 games in the 12 races to 9 and 6.4 games in the 10 races to 11 (excludes the final match, a race to 15). Two of these matches went to hill/hill (including the final match). The most lopsided match was one at 9-0.

• The average elapsed match times were 91 minutes for the 12 races to 9 and 125 minutes for the 10 races to 11. The average minutes per game for all 358 games was 7.1. The elapsed time was measured from the lag until the winning ball was made, so it includes time for racking and commercial breaks. Commercial breaks were significant in these matches, generally occurring after every 3 games in a match, and lasting about 3 minutes each.

• The race to 9 that was longest in elapsed time, at 121 minutes, was Gorst d. Luong 9-7. The race to 11 that was longest in elapsed time, at 148 minutes, was Van Boening d. Wu Kun Lin 11-9. The match highest in average minutes per game, at 9.4, was Gorst d. Raga 11-4.

• The race to 9 that was shortest in elapsed time, at 60 minutes, was Ko PC d. Appleton 9-0. The race to 11 that was shortest in elapsed time, at 78 minutes, was Filler d. Dominguez 11-1. The match lowest in average minutes per game, at 5.7, was Dang d. Biado 9-5.

• Breaking fouls averaged 1 for every 25.6 games, other fouls 1 for every 3.7 games, and missed shots about 1 for every 1.6 games.

• One or more safeties were played in about 51% of all games and in 62% of games that were not B&Rs.

 

[AtLarge]

2024 World 9-Ball Stage 1 vs. Stage 2

Here's a comparison of stats for the matches I tracked for Stage 1 (double elimination -- 12 matches, 155 games) vs. Stage 2 (single elimination -- 11 matches, 203 games).

These stats are for Stage 1 first, then Stage 2, then total.

• Successful breaks -- 60%, 77%, 70%​

• Breaker won game -- 56%, 56%, 56%​

• B&R games on all breaks -- 13%, 23%, 19%​

• B&R games on successful breaks -- 22%, 30%, 27%​

• Games ending in 1 inning -- 30%, 39%, 35%​

• Games going beyond the 2nd inning -- 39%, 35%, 37%​

• Runouts by the player at the table following the break -- 23%, 32%, 28%​

• Games won by first player to make a ball after the break -- 72%, 76%, 74%​

• Avg. number of balls made on all breaks -- 0.8, 1.0, 0.9​

• Avg. number of balls made on successful breaks -- 1.3, 1.2, 1.3​

• Games per missed shot (approx.) -- 1.4, 1.8, 1.6​

• Games per foul -- 2.8, 3.6, 3.2,​

• Games with one or more safeties -- 50%, 51%, 51%​

• Games (excl. B&Rs) with one or more safeties -- 58%, 66%, 62%​

• Minutes per game (including commercial breaks) -- 7.0, 7.4, 7.3​

• Matches won by winner of lag -- 33%, 73%, 52%​

• Winning 9-balls on the break (% of all breaks) -- 3 (1.9%), 5 (2.5%), 8 (2.2%)​

 

[AtLarge]

2023 vs. 2024 World 9-Ball

How do the stats compare for this year's World Pool Championship versus last year's? Last year I tracked only matches in the single-elimination portion of the event. So this comparison uses only the Stage 2 matches for each year -- 11 matches each year, with 206 games in 2023 and 203 games in 2024.

The only difference between the two years in rules and equipment that I'm aware of is that the table in 2023 was a Diamond with 4¼" corners, whereas the table this year was a Rasson Mr-Sung with 4" corners.

These stats are for 2023 first, then 2024.

• Successful breaks -- 78%, 77%​

• Breaker won game -- 60%, 56%​

• B&R games on all breaks -- 32%, 23%​

• B&R games on successful breaks -- 41%, 30%​

• Games ending in 1 inning -- 56%, 39%​

• Games going beyond the 2nd inning -- 20%, 35%​

• Runouts by the player at the table following the break -- 41%, 32%​

• Games won by first player to make a ball after the break -- 77%, 76%​

• Avg. number of balls made on all breaks -- 1.2, 1.0​

• Avg. number of balls made on successful breaks -- 1.4, 1.2​

• Games per missed shot (approx.) -- 2.9, 1.8​

• Games per foul -- 4.5, 3.6​

• Games with one or more safeties -- 38%, 51%,​

• Games (excl. B&Rs) with one or more safeties -- 56%, 66%,​

• Minutes per game (including commercial breaks) -- 6.6, 7.4​

• Matches won by winner of lag -- 55%, 73%​

• Winning 9-balls on the break (% of all breaks) -- 3 (1.5%), 5 (2.5%)​

 

[sjm]

Great job. Thanks.

 

[kingwang]

Thanks for all of your hard work!

 

[pt109]

 

[King T]

Excellence as alway! Thanks!

 

[AtLarge]

Minutiae from the 23 tracked matches:

• All 8 of the game-winning 9-balls on the break were made by the winner of the match, and 4 of the 8 were the last shot of the match.​

​

• The average number of visits to the table per game was 4.2.​

​

• Three of the matches had no B&Rs.​

​

• In the Melling/Majid match, the total number of balls made on the break was just 4.​

 

[ctran]

I have a question: what is the difference between "B&R games on all breaks" and "B&R games on successful breaks"? thank you

 

[AtLarge]

I have a question: what is the difference between "B&R games on all breaks" and "B&R games on successful breaks"? thank you

Let's say a player broke 10 times in a match and was successful (made at least one ball and did not foul) on 6 of those breaks. If he broke and ran out from the break twice in the match, then his B&Rs on all breaks would be 2 of 10, or 20%. His B&Rs on successful breaks would be 2 of 6, or 33%.

 

[Flakeandrun]

Is it just me and the games I happened to watch, or did it feel like there were quite a high number of golden breaks in this tournament?

Stellar work as per Large

 

[AtLarge]

Is it just me and the games I happened to watch, or did it feel like there were quite a high number of golden breaks in this tournament?

Stellar work as per Large

Well, for the 23 matches (358 games) I watched, the number of winning 9s on the break was 8, or 2.2% of the breaks. That's not an unusually high percentage. Of course, as everyone knows, even 1 winning 9 on the break is too many.

 

[Bob Jewett]

Well, for the 23 matches (358 games) I watched, the number of winning 9s on the break was 8, or 2.2% of the breaks. That's not an unusually high percentage. Of course, as everyone knows, even 1 winning 9 on the break is too many.

I kind of remember a match with two of them. I saw parts of three different streams so you may have missed it.

 

[AtLarge]

I kind of remember a match with two of them. I saw parts of three different streams so you may have missed it.

Krause had two 9s on the break in his defeat of Sanchez-Ruiz in the round of 64. The second one ended the match. That was a feature-table match and is included in my stats.