Table of Contents

Introduction to the tournament system................................................................................................ 2

a) The number of matches................................................................................................................ 2
b) Competitiveness development......................................................................................................2
c) Ranking precision......................................................................................................................... 3
Importance of Tournament.................................................................................................................. 3
(i) Development of sports skills:....................................................................................................3
(ii) Helpful in selection of players.................................................................................................. 3
(iii) Popularity and publicity of sports............................................................................................ 3
(iv) A source of recreation............................................................................................................. 3
(v) Development of social qualities.............................................................................................. 3
(vi) Development of national and international integration.........................................................3
Types of Tournaments.......................................................................................................................... 3
1. Elimination Single Knock-Out Tournament.............................................................................4
2. Double Elimination tournament...............................................................................................5
3. Combination system Tournament.............................................................................................7
4. League or Round Robin Tournament....................................................................................... 8
5. Ladder System Tournament......................................................................................................9
6. Pyramid System Tournament................................................................................................. 11
Some important terminologies used in organizing tournament........................................................11
i. Bye......................................................................................................................................... 12
ii. Seeding...................................................................................................................................12
iii. Special Seeding...................................................................................................................... 12
iv. Intramural...............................................................................................................................12
v. Extramural..............................................................................................................................12
References………............................................................................................................................. 13

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TOURNAMENT SYSTEM

Introduction to the tournament system

Tournament is essential and most important part of physical education curriculum. It
is the series of sports in which a team finally wins and rest of the teams loses the
matches. Before organizing a tournament, it is very important to prepare a god plan.
There are various methods to organize a tournament. To select the best method
depends upon various factors such as what is the number of participating teams.
Nowadays tournaments are held according to set rules and regulations. (Edwards,
1991)

Competitive games do not just attract players only, but also many spectators who are
interested in the game. Tournament is a competitive system to identify the winners. It
usually provides some prizes as objectives for participants to compete against each
other. It is often used as a formal method to conduct an official game event, to gather
players or teams, as well as to attract a large number of spectators. Such large scale
events usually receive sponsorship from various companies and organizations.
Therefore, it is necessary to be carefully prepared and conducted to be able to avoid
disappointments from any party. (Established et al., 2016)

Let us discuss three main concerns in tournament systems

a) The number of matches

The number is crucial for the tournament organizer to calculate the cost of conducting
the tournament.

b) Competitiveness development
That is, to avoid the throwaway matches in which participants are not so motivated to
play their best. Regarding competitive games, uneven teams tend to make a reduce of
interest from the viewer’s. However, the structure of the tournament may have great
effect on the motivation of the participants. It is important to plan the matches
carefully, giving the participants good motivations to play their best in the game.

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 c) Ranking precision
That is, to make sure the ranking results of a tournament are convincing and reliable.
It is important to prove that the prize winners are really worthy.
Regarding the checking of a tournament for whether it can maintain the
competitiveness, to the best of our knowledge, there has been until now no study of
any method to perform this work.

Importance of Tournament
Tournaments are important in the field of sports. The tournaments are not only
significant to the players but to the coaches and physical education teachers also.

(i) Development of sports skills: By participating in tournaments sportspersons

do not develop only technical skills of the sports but also the tactical skills.
(ii) Helpful in selection of players: On the basis of tournaments, good players can
be selected by observing their performance in a tournament.
(iii) Popularity and publicity of sports: Tournaments are helpful in publicizing the
sports. It creates interest in that sport.
(iv) A source of recreation: Sports tournaments provide ample recreation to the
spectators.
(v) Development of social qualities: Social traits such as tolerance, sympathy,
cooperation, group cohesion etc are developed among participants through
sports tournaments.
(vi) Development of national and international integration: Sports tournaments
are helpful in developing national integration as well as international unity
and brotherhood. (Mhm, 2016)

Types of Tournaments
There are six types of tournaments, which are mentioned below:

1. Elimination Single Knock-Out Tournament

2. Double Elimination System
3. Combination system Tournament
4. League or Round Robin Tournament

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5. Ladder System Tournament

6. Pyramid system (Committees & Run, n.d.)

1. Elimination Single Knock-Out Tournament

The simplest type of tournament is the single elimination tournament, in which the
winner of each match advances in the tournament and the loser is eliminated. As the
name implies, one loss eliminates a player; no provision is made for an ‘off-day’ or
bad luck occurring to a player. This type of draw is most convenient with a large
number of contestants and only a short time available for play. (Resources, 2008)

If all players are of equal ability or their ability is unknown, all names are placed in a
hat and drawn blindly for positions on the draw sheet. The first name drawn is placed
on the first line of the draw; the second name drawn is placed on the second line and
so on, assuming of course that proper provision has been made for the number of byes
required.

If players’ abilities are known, then they are seeded and placed in the draw as for a
seeded elimination tournament. (Bank, 2015)

Figure 1: Single elimination tournament

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Advantages of Elimination single Knock-out Tournaments:
(1) Minimum number of officials is required in organizing such type of tournaments
(2) Owing to less number of matches, it requires less time to complete the tournament.
(3) The knock-out tournaments are less expensive because the team, which gets
defeated, is eliminated from the competition.

Disadvantages of Elimination single knock-out Tournament:

(1) Spectators may not have enough interest in the final match.
(2) There may be many chances of elimination of good teams in the first or second
round. So, good teams may not reach into the final round.
(3) There are maximum chances of weak teams to enter into the final round.

2. Double Elimination tournament

In a double elimination tournament a team or players must lose twice before they are
eliminated. It’s superior to the single elimination tournament when a small number of
players are involved (less than eight) for it makes allowances for players having an
‘off-day’. Byes are given for less than eight players. If more than eight players are
entered, two separate tournaments can be held and the winners can meet for the
championship. (Rink, 2013)

Figure 2: Double elimination tournament

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Advantage of Double Elimination System
The double-elimination format has some advantages over the single-elimination
format, most notably the fact that third and fourth places can be determined without
the use of a consolation or "classification" matches involving two contestants who
have already been eliminated from winning the championship.

Some tournaments, such as in tennis, will use "seeding" to prevent the strongest
contestants from meeting until the later round. However, in tournaments where
contestants are placed randomly in the draw, or in situations where seeding is not
available, it is possible for 2 of the strongest teams to meet in the early rounds rather
than a final or semifinal as would be expected in a seeded draw. Double elimination
overcomes this shortfall by allowing a strong team which loses early to work their
way through the L Bracket and progress to the later rounds, despite meeting the
strongest team in the early rounds of competition.

Another advantage of the double-elimination format is the fact that all competitors
will play at least twice and three quarters will play three games or more. In a
single-elimination tournament with no byes, half of the competitors will be eliminated
after their first game. This can be disappointing to those who had to travel to the
tournament and were only able to play once.

Disadvantage of Double Elimination System

A disadvantage compared to the single-elimination format is that at least twice the
number of matches has to be conducted. Since each player has to lose twice and since
the tournament ends when only one player remains, in a tournament for n competitors
there will be either 2n − 2 or 2n − 1 games depending on whether or not the winner
was undefeated during the tournament. This may result in a scheduling hardship for
venues where only one facility for play is available.

It is possible for the Championship finals to be determined by just a single match if

the W Bracket winner defeats the L Bracket winner. It is therefore unknown, until this
match has been concluded, whether the final scheduled match will in fact be required.
This can be seen as a disadvantage of the system, particularly if broadcasting and
ticket sales companies have an interest in the tournament.

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 3. Combination system Tournament
Combination tournaments are conducted when the matches are to be played on group
basis or zonal basis. As a matter of fact, these tournaments depend on the suitability
of the activity, the number of participating teams and the areas and distance from
which they come to participate.

There are four types of combination tournament:

(a) Knock-out cum knock-out

(b) League cum League

(c) Knock-out cum League

(d) League cum Knock-out. (H EALTH AND P HYSICAL A Teachers ’ Guide for
Class VI, n.d.)

a. Knock-out cum knock-out

In this type of tournament the total number of teams is divided in four equal zones.
First of all the teams of each zone play on knock-out basis. In this way, a team
becomes the winner from each zone. All the four winner teams again play their
matches on knock-out basis. The team that wins in the final becomes the winner of
inter zonal tournament.

b. League Cum League

In this type of tournament total number of teams is divided in four zones. All the
teams play their matches in their respective zones on league basis. One team from
each zone becomes the zonal winner. It is called zonal or group tournament. After that
all the zonal winner teams again play the matches on league basis and one team
becomes the winner of inter zonal or group tournament.

c. Knock-out cum League

All the teams are divided in four zones. First of all the teams play their matches in
their respective zones on knock-out basis and one team becomes the winner from each
zone. After that the four winner teams again play their matches on league base and
one team becomes the winner of inter group or zone tournament.

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 d. League cum Knock-out Tournament
All the teams are divided into four zones. All the teams play their matches in their
respective zones on league basis. One team from each zone or group becomes the
winner. It is called zonal tournament. After that the four winner teams play their
matches on knock-out basis and one team becomes the winner of inter group or zonal
tournament.

4. League or Round Robin Tournament

In league tournament, each team plays with every other team atleast once if it is single
league tournament but in case of double league tournament each team plays match
with every other team atleast twice. In such type of tournaments, every team plays
without any consideration of winning or defeat in a match. (FMOH, 2018)

Types of Round Robin Tournament

League Tournament is of two types.

(a) Single League Tournament

In single league tournament, each team play with every other team once and number
of matches is determined with the help of this formula:

n (n-1)

______

Here ‘n’ means the number of teams participating in a tournament, for example, if 10
teams are taking part in a tournament, the number of total matches will be held as
given below:

10 (10-1) 10 (9) 90

_______ = ______ = ______ = 45 matches

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(b) Double League Tournament

In double league tournament every team plays with every other team twice.

The number of matches is determined with the help of this formula:

n (n-1)

If 9 teams are taking part in a double league tournament, the total number of matches
will be held as given below:

N (n-1) = 9 (9-1) =9 (8) = 72 matches

Advantages of League tournament

(1) A team need not wait to win other for playing a match.
(2) Appropriate opportunities are available to the players to improve their
performance.
(3) The spectators also get good opportunity to watch the game for many days. Only
strong or deserving team gets victory in the tournament

Disadvantages of League Tournament

(1) It is costly and requires more time.
(2) It requires more arrangements for sports officials and teams.
(3) Most of the teams become psychologically down due to their defeat again and
again. In such a situation, these teams become unable to show good performance.

5. Ladder System Tournament

In a ladder tournament players are listed as if on the rungs of a ladder, according to
ability or ranking, with the best player at the top of the list. Competition is arranged
by challenge and a player is allowed to challenge players above them on the ladder.
Usually there is a limit to how many rungs above them players may challenge.

If the lowest-placed player wins the match then the two players change places on the
ladder. If the challenged player wins, they are allowed to challenge someone above
them before they must accept another challenge. (Edwards, 1991)

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 Fig no.3
Note that:

 all challenges must be accepted and played before a pre-determined date or

time
 specific rules should be posted concerning the ladder tournament in order to
avoid disputes and to keep the tournament running smoothly
 Ideal for maintaining a continuous ranking of players
over a long period of time.

Advantages Ladder System Tournament

 Easy to organize.
 Emphases maximum participation.
 Winning not required to stay included.
 Opportunity for social interaction.
 No need to maintain win-loss record.
 Participants play when convenient.
 Good for ranking participants.
 No formal schedule.
 No formula required.

Disadvantages Ladder System Tournament

 Communication between participants is required to arrange match.
 Lacks challenge for some.
 Suited for small number of entries only.
 May appear overly complicated to some.

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6. Pyramid System Tournament

Similar to the ladder tournament, the pyramid tournament maintains continuous,

prolonged competition. It allows for more challenges to be made and so more
participation, and can include a larger number of participants than the ladder
tournament.

After the original draw is made, any player may challenge any other player in the
same horizontal row. If they win, they can challenge any players in the row above
them. When a player loses to someone in the row below them, they change places
with the winner. Again, as in the ladder tournament, clear, concise and specific rules
should be posted with the challenge board in order to avoid disputes about challenge
matches. (Rink, 2013)

Pyramid System Tournament Figure no. 4

Some important terminologies used in organizing tournament:

There are some important terminologies which are used during organizing a
tournament.

i) Bye

ii) Seeding

iii) Special seeding

iv) Intramural

v) Extramural. (Rink, 2013)

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i. Bye
A bye, in sports and other competitive activities, most commonly refers to the practice
of allowing a player or team to advance to the next round of playoff tournament
without playing. (Established et al., 2016)

ii. Seeding
Seeding is done to overcome the drawback of single knock out tournament. Seeding is
the procedure by which good teams place in fixtures in such way that stronger teams
do not meet each other at very beginning of tournament. Seeding can be done only if
the standards of teams are known before the tournament. (Rink, 2013)

iii. Special Seeding

In this form of fixtures the seeded players are brought straight away to quarterfinals or
semifinals. Though the method is unfair yet the outstanding players can’t stay for a
longer period at a particular place. In this form of draw the other formalities of draws
are not taken as seriously as in knock out tournament.

iv. Intramural
In simple term, Intramural means “A game for each and each for a game”, Intramural
competitions are the competitions conducted within the students of the same
institution. Or in the other works, these activities are organized only for the students
of a school or campus. No student of other school can take part in these activities.
Intramural competitions are the best means to motivate all the students of an
institution for participating in the games and sports. (Niwa, 2007)

v. Extramural

Extramural competitions are inter-college, inter-school, inter-institution competitions

separately for each game and sport. The intramural program takes pride in allowing its
participants to take part in extramural competitions at state, regional national and
international levels in various sports and games. (Niwa, 2007)

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References:

Bank, Q. (2015). SOLVED QUESTION BANK ( Physical Education-048 )

CHAPTER 1 : Planning in sports.
Committees, V., & Run, H. (n.d.). Planning in Sports, 7–15.
Edwards, T. (1991). Abstract :
Established, B., Partnership, G., Partnership, G., Partnership, T. G., Gpe, S. P., & Plan,
T. (2016). Terms of Reference - Short-term consultancy ( STC ) Education
Specialist – Planning and policy , Quality Assurance Unit Education , Policy ,
and Performance Team of the Global Partnership for Education ( GPE ), 1–3.
FMOH. (2018). Health &.
H EALTH AND P HYSICAL A Teachers ’ Guide for Class VI. (n.d.).
Mhm, M. J. S. (2016). Site Selection Factors for Youth Sport Tournaments.
Niwa, H. (2007). [ No Title ]. Development, 134(4), 635–646.
Resources, C. L. (2008). Physical Education:
Rink, J. (2013). Teaching physical education for learning, 384.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.talanta.2006.12.005

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