Break Stats -- 2025 Mosconi Cup, December 2025

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Here are some break results for the 2025 Mosconi Cup played December 3-6, 2025 at Alexandra Palace in London, England. This event was 9-Ball racing to 11 match wins, with each match being a race to 5 games. The format was three team matches (everyone plays one game, then repeat until one side wins 5 games), up to 6 doubles matches (6 were played), and up to 12 singles matches (5 were played). Team Europe won the Cup 11-3, with the match scores on the 4 days as follows (Team Europe's score first):

Day 1 -- 4 - 0​
Day 2 -- 2 - 1 (2-day total 6 - 1)​
Day 3 -- 2 - 2 (3-day total 8 - 3)​
Day 4 -- 3 - 0​
Total -- 11 - 3

Players for Team USA -- Shane Van Boening, Skyler Woodward, Tyler Styer, Billy Thorpe, and Fedor Gorst
Players for Team Europe -- Jayson Shaw, David Alcaide, Joshua Filler, Pijus Labutis, and Moritz Neuhausen
Team Captains -- Skyler Woodward for Team USA and Jayson Shaw for Team Europe
Commentators (2 per match) -- Phil Yates, Jeremy Jones, Michael McMullan, Karl Boyes, and Scott Frost
Referees -- Marcel Eckardt and Ben Taylor-Fuente
Announcer/Interviewer -- Abigail Davies
Interviews -- Kim Kothari
Master of Ceremonies -- Tahir Hajat

The conditions for this event included the following:
• Rasson Victory 9-foot table 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 and the 2-ball on one of the wings or in the back location;​
• alternate breaks from behind the head string in a box approximately 8" to each side of the long string;​
• no illegal break rule, but the referee is to enforce a forceful-break rule;​
• 30-sec. shot clock (60 sec. after the break or a push out), with one 30-sec. extension per side per game;​
• foul on all balls;​
• 3-foul rule in effect;​
• jump cues allowed;​
• all slop counts; and​
• lag for the break in each match.​

The 14 matches were as follows, in the order they were played. Match winners are bolded; total Cup scores are after each match in brackets.

Wed. Dec. 3, 2024
1. Teams -- USA ... 1-5 ... Europe [0-1]​
2. Doubles -- Van Boening/Gorst ... 3-5 ... Filler/Alcaide [0-2]​
3. Singles -- Woodward ... 2-5 ... Shaw [0-3]​
4. Doubles -- Styer/Thorpe ... 2-5 ... Labutis/Neuhausen [0-4]​

Thurs. Dec. 4
5. Teams -- USA ... 4-5 ... Europe [0-5]​
6. Singles -- Gorst ... 3-5 ... Filler [0-6]​
7. Doubles -- Van Boening/Woodward ... 5-2 ... Shaw/Filler [1-6]​

Fri. Dec. 5
8. Singles -- Styer ... 4-5 ... Neuhausen [1-7]​
9. Doubles -- Gorst/Thorpe ... 5-3 ... Alcaide/Labutis [2-7]​
10. Teams -- USA ... 4-5 ... Europe [2-8]​
11. Singles -- Van Boening ... 5-3 ... Alcaide [3-8]​

Sat. Dec. 6
12. Doubles -- Woodward/Gorst ... 2-5 ... Filler/Neuhausen [3-9]​
13. Singles -- Thorpe ... 3-5 ... Labutis [3-10]​
14. Doubles -- Van Boening/Styer... 2-5 ... Shaw/Alcaide [3-11]​

Overall results

Successful breaks (made at least one ball and did not foul):
Team USA -- 70% (37 of 53)​
Team Europe -- 84% (46 of 55)​
Total -- 77% (83 of 108)

Breaker won the game:
Team USA -- 45% (24 of 53)​
Team Europe -- 62% (34 of 55)​
Total -- 54% (58 of 108)

Break-and-run games on all breaks:
Team USA -- 23% (12 of 53)​
Team Europe -- 20% (11 of 55)​
Total -- 21% (23 of 108)

Break-and-run games on successful breaks (made at least one ball and did not foul):
Team USA -- 32% (12 of 37)​
Team Europe -- 24% (11 of 46)​
Total -- 28% (23 of 83)

Here's a further breakdown of the 108 games played in the Cup.

Team USA broke 53 times, with the following results:​
Made at least one ball (and did not foul) and won the game -- 18 (34%)​
Made at least one ball (and did not foul) and lost the game -- 19 (36%)​
Broke dry or fouled but won the game -- 6 (11%)​
Broke dry or fouled and lost the game -- 10 (19%)​
Team Europe broke 55 times, with the following results:​
Made at least one ball (and did not foul) and won the game -- 31 (56%)​
Made at least one ball (and did not foul) and lost the game -- 15 (27%)​
Broke dry or fouled but won the game -- 3 (5%)​
Broke dry or fouled and lost the game -- 6 (11%)​
Totals for both teams on all 126 breaks:
Made at least one ball (and did not foul) and won the game -- 49 (45%)​
Made at least one ball (and did not foul) and lost the game -- 34 (31%)​
Broke dry or fouled but won the game -- 9 (8%)​
Broke dry or fouled and lost the game -- 16 (15%)​
Therefore, whereas Team USA won 45% (24 of 53) of the games on their own break,​
They won 49% (18 of 37) of the games in which their break was successful.​
They won 38% (6 of 16) of the games in which their break was unsuccessful (fouled or dry).​
And whereas Team Europe won 62% (34 of 55) of the games on their own break,​
They won 67% (31 of 46) of the games in which the break was successful.​
They won 33% (3 of 9) of the games in which their break was unsuccessful (fouled or dry).​

Balls Pocketed:
Team USA -- 54 on the break, 380 not on the break, 434 in total (includes 7 balls made on breaking fouls)​
Team Europe -- 66 on the break, 446 not on the break, 512 in total (includes 2 balls made on breaking fouls and 3 balls made on other fouls)​

Average number of balls made on the break:
Team USA -- 1.0 on all breaks, 1.3 on successful breaks​
Team Europe -- 1.2 on all breaks, 1.4 on successful breaks​
Total -- 1.1 on all breaks, 1.3 on successful breaks​

Alternate-break packages (break-and-run games on a player's or team's own successive breaks)
• Team USA's 12 B&R games consisted of three 2-packs (one by Gorst and Styer in Match 5, one by Gorst in Match 6, and one by Van Boening and Woodward in Match 7) and 6 singles.​
• Team Europe's 11 B&R games were all singles.​

9-Balls on the break -- The 23 break-and-run games included two 9-balls on the break (1.9% of all breaks) -- one by Gorst in Match 6 and one by Labutis in Match 9.
 
Miscellany from the data for the 2025 Mosconi Cup

■ The most balls made on a single break was 3, done four times -- once by Gorst when it included the 9-ball and three times by Labutis, twice when he won the game (not by B&R) and once when he lost the game.

■ 39% (42 of 108) of the games ended in one inning -- 21% (23) won by the breaking side (B&R) and 18% (19) won by the non-breaking side.

■ The average match score was 5-2.7, with no match ending at 5-0, one match at 5-1, five at 5-2, five at 5-3, and three at 5-4.

■ Elapsed time per match, in minutes:
• 58 average for all 14 matches;​
• 78 for the longest match -- Match 5, the second Teams match;​
• 44 for the shortest match -- Match 1, the first Teams match.​
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.​

■ Minutes per game:
• 7.5 average for all 14 matches. Estimated at 7.0 not counting commercial breaks (but counting a minute for the racking that occurred during the breaks);​
• 8.7 for the two matches highest in average minutes per game -- Matches 4 and 5;​
• 6.2 for the match lowest in average minutes per game -- Match 9.​

■ Breaking fouls averaged 1 for every 18.0 games, other fouls 1 for every 5.1 games, and missed shots about 1 for every 1.7 games.

■ One or more safeties were played in about 54% of all games and in 68% of games that were not B&Rs.
 
Here are some 2025 Mosconi Cup break stats for each player. [Caveat: small numbers.]

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

Van Boening -- 9 of 13 (69%)​
Woodward -- 6 of 8 (75%)​
Styer -- 10 of 11 (91%)​
Thorpe -- 4 of 8 (50%)​
Gorst -- 8 of 13 (62%)​
Team USA Total -- 37 of 53 (70%)​
Shaw -- 6 of 9 (67%)​
Alcaide -- 10 of 12 (83%)​
Filler -- 12 of 13 (92%)​
Labutis -- 10 of 10 (100% )​
Neuhausen -- 8 of 11 (73%)​
Team Europe Total -- 46 of 55 (84%)​

USA + Europe Total -- 83 of 108 (77%)​

Breaker's side won the game:

Van Boening -- 6 of 13 (46%)​
Woodward -- 2 of 8 (25%)​
Styer -- 4 of 11 (36%)​
Thorpe -- 3 of 8 (38%)​
Gorst -- 9 of 13 (69%)​
Team USA Total -- 24 of 53 (45%)​
Shaw -- 5 of 9 (56%)​
Alcaide -- 6 of 12 (50%)​
Filler -- 7 of 13 (54%)​
Labutis -- 7 of 10 (70% )​
Neuhausen -- 9 of 11 (82%)​
Team Europe Total -- 34 of 55 (62%)​
USA + Europe Total -- 58 of 108 (54%)​

Break-and-run games, on all breaks:

Van Boening -- 3 of 13 (23%)​
Woodward -- 1 of 8 (13%)​
Styer -- 2 of 11 (18%)​
Thorpe -- 0 of 8 (0%)​
Gorst -- 6 of 13 (48%)​
Team USA Total -- 12 of 53 (23%)​
Shaw -- 2 of 9 (22%)​
Alcaide -- 2 of 12 (17%)​
Filler -- 3 of 13 (23%)​
Labutis -- 2 of 10 (20% )​
Neuhausen -- 2 of 11 (18%)​
Team Europe Total -- 11 of 55 (20%)​
USA + Europe Total -- 23 of 108 (21%)​

Break-and-run games, on successful breaks:

Van Boening -- 3 of 9 (33%)​
Woodward -- 1 of 6 (17%)​
Styer -- 2 of 10 (20%)​
Thorpe -- 0 of 4 (0%)​
Gorst -- 6 of 8 (75%)​
Team USA Total -- 12 of 37 (32%)​
Shaw -- 2 of 6 (33%)​
Alcaide -- 2 of 10 (20%)​
Filler -- 3 of 12 (25%)​
Labutis -- 2 of 10 (20% )​
Neuhausen -- 2 of 8 (25%)​
Team Europe Total -- 11 of 46 (24%)​

USA + Europe Total -- 23 of 83 (28%)​

[Note: A B&R in a doubles game is credited here to the breaker.
 
Regarding Lags:

2025 -- Cup won by Team Europe 11-3
• USA won 6 lags, Europe won 8.​
• The team that won the lag won the first game 7 times (3 by USA, 4 by Europe).​
• The team that won the lag won the match 7 times (1 by USA, 6 by Europe).​
• In the 3 hill/hill matches, USA won the lag 1 time but lost the match. Europe won the lag twice and won both matches but not by B&R in the last game.​
- The team that won the first game (7 times by each team) won the match 8 times (2 by USA, 6 by Europe).​

2024 -- Cup won by Team Europe 11-6
• USA won 9 lags, Europe won 8.​
• The team that won the lag won the first game 11 times (5 by USA, 6 by Europe).​
• The team that won the lag won the match 10 times (4 by USA, 6 by Europe).​
• In the 4 hill/hill matches, USA won the lag 3 times and won the match twice (neither by B&R in the last game). Europe won the lag once and won the match by B&R in the last game.​
- The team that won the first game (7 by USA, 10 by Europe) won the match 10 times (3 by USA, 7 by Europe).​

For the last 13 Mosconi Cups in total, 52 matches have gone to a hill/hill game, and the breaking side (winner of the lag) won 34 (65%) of those games, 16 by B&R.

Here's a post from 2023 showing this information on lags for each of the 11 Cups 2013-2023: https://forums.azbilliards.com/thre...osconi-cup-december-2023.559698/#post-7693832
 
Regarding Balls Made on the Break:

Team USA averaged 1.0 balls per break on all breaks (54 balls on 53 breaks) and 1.3 balls per break on successful breaks (47 balls on 37 breaks).

Team Europe averaged 1.2 balls per break on all breaks (66 balls on 55 breaks) and 1.4 balls per break on successful breaks (64 balls on 46 breaks).

Distribution of balls made on the 108 breaks:
• 1s here means the 1-ball in the side pocket on the opposite side of the table from the breaker;​
• w means the wing ball on the same side of the table as the breaker, in the nearest corner pocket​
- made 1s, but no other balls -- occurred 55 times (55 balls pocketed, including 3 on 3 fouls)​
- made 1s plus 1 or 2 other balls, but not w -- 18 times (38 balls, including 4 on 2 fouls)​
- made w, but no other balls -- 1 time (1 ball)​
- made w and other ball or balls, but not 1s -- 0 times​
- made both 1s and w, but no others -- 7 times (14 balls, including 2 on a foul)​
- both 1s and w and other ball or balls -- 2 times (6 balls)​
- made neither 1s nor w, but 1-2 other balls -- 6 times (6 balls)​
- dry, but no foul -- 19 times​
- dry and fouled -- 0 times​
Total -- 108 breaks, 120 balls pocketed (including 9 on fouls)​

The 1-ball was pocketed in the side pocket on the opposite side of the table from the breaker:
- on 76% of all breaks (82 of 108)​
- on 92% of successful breaks (76 of 83)​
- on 100% (6 of 6) of fouled break​
 
... Any stats on unforced errors. ….ie easy shots missed
Easy shots missed, eh? Sort of like the misses that Accu-Stats would charge with two errors in the TPA calculation instead of one. I didn't try to keep track of that. Unforced errors can occur in other ways, too, e.g. botching a simple safety or push shot or fouling in various ways.
 
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