Knockout tournament rules
Knockout is a single-elimination bracket where every match is win-or-go-home. These are the rules of a knockout tournament:
- The tournament starts with a random draw into the bracket: players on their own in singles, drawn pairs in doubles, or the fixed teams of one or two you enter in Team Knockout.
- The winning team advances to the next round while the losing team is knocked out for good.
- Each round halves the field — quarter-finals, semi-finals, then the final — until the last team standing wins the tournament.
- A knockout match can't end in a draw — a deciding point or a tiebreak settles a tight game.
- A drawn pair stays together for the whole bracket, so your partner is decided once, at the draw.
How do you score in a knockout tournament?
Because knockout is win-or-go-home, the score decides who survives the round — so set it clearly before play begins. You can score however suits your sport and your event: classic games and sets, or point-per-rally where you earn a point for every rally won.
- Knockout matches are often a single set or a short points race to keep the bracket moving, or best-of-three sets when there's time.
- With classic scoring, a set is won at 6 games with a 2-game lead; at 6–6 a tiebreak decides it.
- With point-per-rally, every rally won gives one point to the winning team, and the team with more points takes the match.
- There are no draws in knockout — a deciding point settles a tight match so one team always advances.
How many players are needed for a knockout tournament?
A knockout works best with a full bracket, so aim for a power-of-two field of teams. Here's how to size your knockout tournament:
- A single-elimination bracket fills cleanly with 4, 8, 16 or 32 teams, so the rounds halve evenly down to the final.
- A 4-team bracket is the smallest that gives you a semi-final and a final; from there it scales as high as you like.
- With log2 of the field you get the round count — 8 teams play 3 rounds, 16 teams play 4 — and a field of n teams plays n−1 matches in total.
- The number of courts depends on the team size — 2 players per court in singles and 4 in doubles.
- In a doubles Knockout, bring an even number of players so everyone gets a partner — an odd player out sits the bracket out.
How is the knockout draw made?
In CourtTable the bracket is drawn at random, so nobody gets an easier path by reputation. Here's how the draw works for each kind of knockout:
- Knockout: CourtTable shuffles your players and cuts them into entrants — single players in singles, pairs in doubles — and a pair stays together for the whole bracket.
- Team Knockout: you build the teams from your player directory, one or two players each, and CourtTable draws them into the bracket.
- After every round you enter the scores and CourtTable moves the winners on to the next round, all the way to the final.
- Players and spectators follow the bracket live on the tournament's public page, or on the TV view at the venue.