Tournaments and Competitions

K nock out or E limination T ournament Single Knock out or Single Elimination In single knock out tournament, the teams once defeated, are eliminated and not given another chance to play. Activity . Collect information about the types of tournaments played at school level in different games and sports. Total number of matches in the tournament = N – , where N is the number of teams competing.

For example, if N = Total number of matches = – = Method of Drawing Fixtures . Drawing fixture for a certain number of teams competing is decided by the power of two, viz. , , , , , , … etc., i.e., , , , , , , … respectively. .

Suppose teams have entered for a tournament, there will be no byes i.e. – = . . If the number of teams participating is not a power of , the byes will be given to a specific number of teams in the first round.

. The number of ‘Byes’ to be given is decided by subtracting the number of teams from its next higher number which is the power of two. For example, if teams entered for a competition, number of Byes = – = and for teams, number of Byes = – = Seeding Single Knock out Fixture for Teams Round I Round II Round III Upper Half Lower Half Upper Half = N = = Teams Lower Half = N = = Teams No. of matches = N– = – = Single Knock out Fixture for Teams Round I Round II Round III Single Knock out Fixture for Teams Round I Round II Round III Round IV Activity .

•• Draw a fixture of nine teams for a Single Knock-out tourament and show it to your teacher. •• Collect information about the rules and regulations for drawing fixtures in Inter School Competitions. Procedure of giving byes Ist Bye — Bottom of the lower half IInd Bye — Top of the upper half IIIrd Bye — Top of the bottom half IVth Bye — Bottom of the upper half This process continues in case the number of byes are more than four. A knock-out fixture is usually drawn by lots and if it is drawn purely on the basis of lots without considering the standards of the teams, strong teams may meet each other in the earlier rounds, hence allowing the weaker teams reaching upto semifinals resulting in unfair and uninteresting competition.

To avoid this, seeding is done. Seeding is sorting of strong teams and fitting them into the fixtures so that these teams do not meet in the earlier rounds. If there is no marked difference in the standard of the seeded teams, then these teams are distributed in the fixture by lots among them. Table : Number of Teams in each Quarter Dividend and Divisor Remainder No.

of teams in each quarter I II III IV N ÷ Q Q Q Q N ÷ Q + Q Q Q N ÷ Q + Q Q + Q N ÷ Q + Q + Q + Q (N = No. of Teams, Q = Quotient) No. of Teams/entries to = × × = = Rounds No. of Teams/entries to = × × × = = Rounds No.

of Teams/entries to = × × × × = = Rounds No. of Teams/entries to = × × × × × = = Rounds No. of Teams/entries to = × × × × × × = = Rounds Merits and Demerits of Single Knock out or Elimination Tournament Merits (i) Tournament finishes in a short time. (ii) There will be economy of expenditure.

(iii) The competition will be keen and intense due to the fear of elimination of a team from the tournament, when defeated. Demerits (i) A team may be eliminated by chance and will not get another chance to play. (ii) If the fixture is drawn purely by lots, there is a possibility of matches between strong teams in the earlier rounds, which would get eliminated, thus weaker teams reaching Semifinals or the Finals. (iii) Winner of a match/round may have to wait for the winner of another match to play the next round.

Special Seeding When some top ranking players or teams participate in a tournament, the fixtures are generally drawn in such a manner that these players or teams play directly at Quarter Finals or Semifinals stage. A fixture of teams participating in a tournament including teams, i.e., , , and , are given special seeding direct at the Quarter Finals stage. For deciding the number of byes for the fixture of special seeding, first subtract the number of teams that are given special seeding ( ) from the total number of teams participating ( ), i.e., – = . Now, Number of Byes = – = Byes.

Single Knock out Fixture for Teams (Special Seeding teams) Rd. I Rd. II Rd. III Rd.

IV Rd. V Rd. VI Seeded Seeded Seeded Seeded I Quarter II Quarter III Quarter IV Quarter Upper Half Lower Half Activity . Prepare a Single Knock out Fixture for teams with specially seeding four teams directly into Quarter Finals.

Consolation Tournament In single knock out or elimination tournament, a team may be eliminated by chance and will not have another chance to play. To avoid this, consolation tournaments are advocated. Consolation indicates that defeated teams would play again to show their worth and win subsidiary honours. Greater number of matches are possible in this tournament, and hence it’s superior to single knock out tournament.

Consolation tournament is of two types— •• I Type of Consolation Tournament •• II Type of Consolation Tournament I Type of Consolation Tournament . Each team will have a chance to play atleast twice. . Teams first play a regular knock out tournament.

. Teams that are eliminated in the first match in the regular round will play among themselves in the consolation round for subsidiary honours. Fixture for teams Regular Round Round I Round II Round III Round IV Winner Losers in their Match Consolation Round (for losers) Round I Round II Round III II Type of Consolation Tournament In II type of consolation tournament, every loser of the regular round will have a chance to play in the consolation round to win subsidiary honours. Method Fixture for teams (without byes) Regular round Round I Round II Round III Round IV RW LOSERS Round I Round II Round III Round IV Consolation Round CW RW — Regular Winner CW — Consolation Winner Fixture of teams (with byes) Regular Round Round I Round II Round III Round IV RW LOSERS Round I Round II Round III Round IV Consolation Round Bye CW From the two methods of drawing fixtures for the II type of consolation tournaments, the first method is recommended.

Total number of matches to be played in consolation type II = N – , where N is the number of participating teams. Double Knock out or Double Elimination Tournament •• A team must be defeated twice to be eliminated. •• Tournament is continued until all the teams are defeated twice except one team. •• It is superior to single knock-out and consolation tournament because it decides the true winners.

•• Double elimination is an extension of consolation type II. •• Regular winner plays with the consolation winner to decide the champion. •• Total number of matches in this tournament shall be (2n – ) or (2n – ). Fixture for Teams (consolation round) RW Champion Upper Half Lower Half Fixture for Teams (Regular Round) Round I Round II Round III Round IV (RW) (If number wins instead of number , then they will have to play again to decide the champion because both the numbers and have been defeated only once.) Bagnall-wild Elimination Tournament This tournament can truly decide the first three places.

Fixture for Teams (regular round) I Place Fixture for Teams (consolation round) II Place III Place In the above fixture of teams, the first places are decided as follows— First place: Winners of the regular knock out tournament gets first place. Second place: All the teams defeated by first place winner except the defeated finalist play among themselves on knock out basis and their winner plays with the defeated finalist. The winner of this match gets second place. Third place: All the teams defeated by the runner ups of the regular tournament play among themselves on knock out basis and the winner plays with the loser of the final round for second place.

The winner of this match gets third place. Note: If number gets second place instead of number . Third place will automatically be accorded to number (without any further matches). League or Round Robin Tournament (a) Single League: In Single League tournaments, each team play once with every other team.

Total no. of Matches in Single League = N(N ) , here N is number of teams. For example, if teams are competing, the total number of matches will be = ( ) = Merits (i) It decides the true winner. (ii) Teams play more number of matches.

(iii) It helps in ranking the participating teams. (iv) The teams need not wait for the completion of other matches or rounds. Demerits (i) It requires a lot of time and facilities. (ii) Teams that get defeated often will lose interest in the game.

b. Double League: In double league, every team plays twice with every other team. Total number of matches in Double League = N (N – ), where N is the number of teams participating in a tournament. Method of Drawing Fixture for Single League Cyclic Method Fixture of teams No.

of Matches = N(N ) = ( ) = Rd. I Rd. II Rd. III Rd.

IV Rd. V Fixture of teams Rd. I Rd. II Rd.

III Rd. IV Rd. V For drawing fixture by Cyclic Method, fix number. in case of even number of teams and fix Bye in case of odd number of teams and rotate the other numbers clockwise as shown in the above fixture.

Total number of rounds for even number of teams = N – rounds Total number of rounds for odd number of teams = N rounds, where N is the number of teams Tabular Method In this method, the fixtures are drawn in a tabular form. The numbers of columns to be drawn horizontally as well as vertically are— a) For even number of teams, N+ columns b) For odd number of teams, N+ columns Procedure for entering the numbers inside the squares indicating the rounds— (i) In the squares of the horizontal columns immediately below the teams, enter the numbers serially from number onwards. (ii) In each vertical column except the last one, enter the numbers serially starting from the number next to that round at the teams. Fixture of teams A A B B C C D D E E F F G G H H No.

of Matches = N(N ) = ( ) = Rd. I Rd. II Rd. III Rd.

IV Rd. V Rd. VI Rd. VII AB AC AD AE AF AG AH DF BH BC BD BE BF BG CG DG EG CH CD CE CF EH EF FH FG GH DH DE ( iii) Note the number entered in the top square of the last vertical column.

In the next square, enter . Then precede entering numbers in the other squares every time adding , i.e., , , etc., until the number becomes less than the number at the top-most square. ( iv) After this, enter number , , , etc., i.e., by every time until the bottom-most square is filled up. (v) The number of bottom-most square will be less than the number of the top-most square.

Fixture of teams A A B B C C D D E E F F G G No. of Matches = N(N ) = ( ) = Rd. I Rd. II Rd.

III Rd. IV Rd. V Rd. VI Rd.

VII AB AC AD AE AF AG DE CG DG BC BD BE BF BG DF EF EG FG CD CE CF E Bye B Bye F Bye C Bye G Bye D Bye A Bye Staircase Method Fixture of teams by staircase method — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — Drawbacks of staircase method (i) It does not indicate the number of rounds to be played. (ii) It is not easy to fix the matches of rounds. Method of deciding winners in league tournaments The winners in league tournaments are generally decided on the basis of points scored by the respective teams. Activity .

•• Prepare a fixture for Classes VI to IX for Single League Inter Class tournament and show it to your teacher. •• Collect information about a game played on Single League basis. Also try to understand the rules to decide the winner and discuss it without your teacher. Generally, points awarded are: Win = points Loss = points Draw = points to each team Team getting maximum number of points is declared the winner.

In case of a tie between two or more number of teams, the ranking is established according to rules and regulations of the International/National Federation of that game or as decided by the Tournament Authorities prior to the commencement of the tournament. Combination Tournament •• Combination tournaments are usually conducted whenever the matches are to be played on group basis or zonal basis. •• Combination tournaments are highly recommended for conducting Inter-School tournaments in a district, state or zone to save time and money. a.

Knock-out cum Knock-out (Four zones or Groups A, B, C, D) Zonal or Group Knock out A Winner of Zone A B Winner of Zone B C Winner of Zone C D Winner of Zone D Inter Zonal or Group Knock out Winner of A Winner of B Winner of C Winner of D Winner of D b. Knock-out cum League (Four zones or Groups A, B, C, D) Zonal or Group Knock out A Winner of Zone A B Winner of Zone B C Winner of Zone C D Winner of Zone D Inter Zonal or Inter Group League AB AC BC AD BD CD c. League-cum-League (For Zones or Groups A, B, C, D) Zonal or Group League A Winner of Zone A — — — — — — B Winner of Zone B — — — — — — C Winner of Zone C — — — — — — D Winner of Zone D — — — — — — Inter Zonal or Inter Group League A — B A — C B — C A — D B — D C — D d. League-cum-Knock-out (For Zones or Groups A, B, C, D) Zonal or Group League A Winner of Zone A — — — — — — B Winner of Zone B — — — — — — C Winner of Zone C — — — — — — D Winner of Zone D — — — — — — Inter Zonal or Inter Group Knock out Winner of A Winner of B Winner of C Winner of D Champion Challenge Tournaments •• Challenge tournaments are usually conducted for games like Badminton, Table Tennis, Squash, etc.

•• Challenge tournaments can be carried out during any specified period of time without any fixed schedule. •• This tournament helps in selecting the best players in individual or dual games. Two common types of challenge tournaments are: (a) Ladder Tournament (b) Pyramid Tournament Ladder Tournament Before starting the ladder tournament, the players shall be arranged in a ladder arbitrarily. Certain rules are followed in the conduct of the tournaments.

. The period within which the tournament is to be finished is specified. . A player can challenge only the player immediately above him.

For example, N can challenge any one of the two or three players above him. . Challenge must be accepted and played only in the order they are made. .

The time to play the accepted challenge should be specified. . After the challenge match, if the challenger has defeated the player he challenged, the challenger is placed above the loser in the ladder. If not, their original position remains in the ladder.

. The players who have already played a challenge shall not be allowed to play or challenge again. . No excuse after the challenge for a failure is accepted.

. At the end of the specified period of the tournament, the player remaining on the top of the ladder is declared the winner or the best. X Z C B A M N R S Pyramid Tournament . Pyramid tournament is a modified form of ladder tournament.

. Players are arranged in the form of a pyramid arbitrarily. . Players of a particular rank can challenge any one of the players in the rank immediately above him provided he has challenged the players of his own rank and won.

For example, H in rank can challenge C or M or L in rank only after he has challenged and won against K or F or S in his own rank. A D G C M L H K F S