Knock-out Competition with Consolation

(presented by ITF)

What is a knock-out with consolation competition?

Knock Out with Consolation is exactly the same as a normal knockouts, only when players lose a match they go into a consolation knockout, guaranteeing all players at least 2 matches.

Organiser tips

COURTS AND PLAYERS: Minimum 16 players is best in a knockout, though byes can be given if you don’t have enough. Aim to have enough courts for the first round so that all or most first round matches are completed in 1 day

SCORING: Choose a scoring format. Best of 3 tiebreak sets works well. For younger players or if you have less time, play best of 3 tiebreak sets to 4 (44tb). Players score their own matches.

SCORESHEETS: Display and update 2 drawsheets - one for the knock out and one for the consolation event (see page 2) so players can see the draw and keep up with who wins and loses.

Activity

ORDER OF PLAY: Conduct the draw, if seeding players, keep them separate for the first round (see page 2). Once you have drawn your matches, give players a time to arrive and sign-in and play their matches. You may give different times to different players so that 50% of players arrive at 10.00hours and 50% arrive at 12.00 hours, allowing time for the first 50% of matches to be played and out of the way before the other 50% are ready to start.

AT THE END: 2 winners are the winner of the knockout final and the winner of the consolation final.

NOTE: Knock out formats are not recommended for starter players or those under 10 years of age.

Adapt the Format

Many formats can easily be adapted to suit players aged under 10, mixed ages, teams and to be a more or less competitive event.

Download ‘ADAPTING COMPETITION’ for a quick and easy guide to adapting this format to suit your needs.

Themes

Many competitions are more fun and easier to promote if they have a theme such as Davis Cup, Olympics or Family Day attached.

Download ‘ADDING THEMES’ for ideas.

Sample Knock Out with Consolation

(We’ve only shown 8 players here in order to fit it all on 1 page, most knockout events are best with a minimum of 16 players)

See that the 2 seeds have been kept at opposite ends of the draw, this way they cannot play until the final.