Tournament 8

Random Draw

The Random Draw format is used as a first round in conjunction with a final elimination round or a barrage round followed by an elimination round. For one day tournaments a Random Draw format of 3 or 4 games followed by a final elimination round of 4 or 8 teams/players.

For two day tournaments a Random Draw format of 6 games maximum, played on Day (1) followed on Day (2) by a barrage round of 8 or 16 teams/players and then a final elimination round of 4 or 8 teams/players.

Explanation using 16 entries and playing 3 games:

Team Sheet

Each team is numbered from 1 to 16.
Game Sheet
1. A draw is made for Game (1). Numbers are drawn one at a time, starting from the top left of the sheet and as they are drawn they are entered in an anti-clockwise direction.
2. Game (2) is arranged by rotating the numbers by a pre-agreed number of places. Each subsequent game is rotated similarly, but possibly by a different of places. In the example below Game (2) is rotated by 1 place from Game (1), Game (3) is rotated by 2 places from Game (2).
3. In the example below the numbers for Game (1) would have been drawn out in the following order: 7, 13, 10, 9, 5, 15, 8, 2, 14, 3, 16, 12, 6, 4, 11 & 1 and entered in an anti-clockwise direction.

Game (1)

7 v 1

13 v 11

10 v 4

9 v 6

5 v 12

15 v 16

8 v 3

2 v 14

Game (2)

1 v 11

7 v 4

13 v 6

10 v 12

9 v 16

5 v 3

15 v 14

8 v 2

Game (3)

4 v 6

11 v 12

1 v 16

7 v 3

13 v 14

10 v 2

9 v 8

5 v 15

The total number of rotated places over 3 games must be less than half the number of teams in the tournament. A tournament with 16 entries must be rotated by less than 8 places in total. In the above example the total for the rotated places is 3 (1 + 2).

The next game round is not put up until about ¾ of the current game round is finished. This maintains the element of surprise. It can also be an option not to start the following game round until all of the current round games are finished.

Terrains:

The terrain numbers are drawn randomly and the numbers put in the appropriate column on the game sheet. The terrains do not need to be redrawn for each game.

Result Sheet

Scores are recorded with win/loss and points differential after each game.
Result Summary Sheet
1. At the end of play the teams are placed in descending order (number of wins and points differential) and seeded as per table below.

Place

1st

2nd

3rd

4th

5th

6th

7th

8th

9th

10th

11th

12th

13th

14th

15th

16th

Team

Wins

Points

+39

+20

+18

+16

+12

+13

+12

-5

-12

-28

-30

-38

From this table the qualifying teams for the next round in the tournament can be determined. For example it may have been decided that the top 8 teams will qualify for the trophy and the remaining 8 teams qualify for the bowl.

Odd number of Entries

To a certain extent this format relies on an even number of entries. What happens if there is an odd number of entries? There are several ways to deal with this:
- Have a standby team to make up the number of entries to an even number.
- Reduce the number of entries by one ie the last entry received.
- Play an even number of games ie 4 or 6 and then the teams who had a bye play an ‘extra’ game against each other to catch up.
- Teams with a bye receive a 13 – 6 win (could be used for one day tournaments).
Advantages of the Random Draw format
1. Every game is important. Teams/players don’t know where the final cut off qualifying point for the next round will be, so each game must be played for maximum results.
2. No seeding needed. The seeding for the final rounds is based on the results from the first round.
3. Less administration. The format is not dependent on a specific number of entries and is a very simple, open and transparent system.