Szewczyk Completes Brace, Kaci Dominates 10-Ball at World Championship

Wojciech Szewczyk, a 32-year-old Polish player, completed a brace of world titles in the 10-ball discipline after a convincing victory over Eklent Kaci in the final. This win places Szewczyk in a special group of only three players who have won two or more world 10-ball championships, alongside Kaci himself and Ko Ping-Chung. Notably, Szewczyk displayed devastating form throughout the tournament. He consistently defeated opponents by comfortable margins, never allowing anyone to put pressure on him. The Polish player's style was described as silent, ruthless, and efficient, based on table control and precise run-out play. In complete contrast to Szewczyk, Eklent Kaci made his mark with incredible competitive resilience. The Albanian player successfully came back from a deficit four times, including situations where he was pushed against the wall. Physical stamina and a strong mentality in deciding frames are Kaci's special weapons. Kaci's biggest technical strength lies in his break. In a match against Hoang Sao, he broke and ran six times, a technical statistic that ranks among the highest in the sport of pool. This powerful break is the key factor that makes Kaci special in the 10-ball discipline. However, in the final, the control model defeated the power model. Szewczyk's error-free run-out play neutralized Kaci's break advantage by denying his opponent access to the table. This style difference was the decisive factor in the match outcome. Professional 10-ball is a rotation game where the lowest-numbered ball must be struck first and the 10-ball must be pocketed last. Unlike 9-ball, professional 10-ball typically requires called shots, which significantly reduces the luck factor and demands precision and consistency in run-out ability. This year's World 10-Ball Championship featured a format adjustment. The set-based format rather than a continuous race-to-N compressed variance and rewarded consistency. This explains why a player with an efficient and controlled style like Szewczyk could maintain comfortable margins throughout the tournament. With 96 players participating, this is one of the largest-scale tournaments in professional pool. Alongside Szewczyk and Kaci, big names such as Filler, Gorst, Van Boening, Sanchez Ruiz, and Ko Ping-Chung also participated, creating fierce competition in every round. The fact that only three players have ever won two or more world 10-ball championships demonstrates the particular difficulty of this discipline. Both Szewczyk and Kaci are genuine names in the sport, and their meeting in the final confirms the professional value of both players. At 32, Szewczyk is at the peak of his career. This is the age where technique and competitive experience reach perfect balance, and this victory shows he is maximizing that golden period. Kaci's four successful comebacks demonstrate extraordinary competitive character. These performances cannot be attributed to luck alone, especially when professional 10-ball requires called shots and minimizes random factors. This signals his ability to handle pressure and maintain a strong mentality at critical moments. However, the analysis also reveals limitations in the source material. There is no detailed data on run-out percentage, break success rate, or defensive statistics for Szewczyk. This makes comprehensive technical assessment of the players difficult. Szewczyk's defensive game is not mentioned in the analyses, suggesting a perspective biased toward attacking and run-out ability. This is a gap in the complete picture of the Polish player's playing style. There is no information about the head-to-head record between Szewczyk and Kaci before this tournament. This makes it harder to assess the nature of the final as a style matchup. The set-based format adjusted from 2026 is believed to favor players with consistent styles. The variance compression in this format helps reduce the possibility of unexpected results and rewards consistency throughout the tournament. Two distinct winning archetypes are clearly demonstrated through this tournament. Szewczyk represents the control and front-running model, while Kaci represents the power and comeback resilience model. These are two completely different skill sets and competitive mentalities. Szewczyk's victory over Kaci in the final is a typical style matchup result. When facing a player with powerful break ability, error-free run-out play neutralizes that advantage by taking away the opponent's table time. In a rotation game where one clean break and run removes the opponent from the table, break quality is the highest-leverage technical variable. This is precisely why Kaci is considered special in the 10-ball discipline due to his break ability. However, the ultimate victory went to Szewczyk with his control style and comfortable margins. This shows that in a specific match, run-out efficiency and table control can overwhelm break power if the player maintains high accuracy. With two world 10-ball championships, Szewczyk has confirmed his position among the elite of the sport. Together with Kaci and Ko Ping-Chung, he forms the group of three best players in the history of this discipline by number of championship titles. This year's World 10-Ball Championship once again confirmed the position of this discipline in the professional pool system. With its called-shot requirements and high precision demands, 10-ball is the most accurate measure of technique and character for the world's top players. Looking to the future, the competition between Szewczyk and Kaci promises to remain exciting. With both at the peak of their careers, future matchups between these two contrasting playing styles will be the focus of the world pool community.