Table Tennis Club Championship Software
Singles, six tables, groups into a knockout and a club champion by lunchtime
A table tennis club championship is a singles day: 16 to 24 members, a handful of tables, groups of four feeding a knockout. Every game goes to 11 with a two-point lead. To fit one day, play best of three in the groups and best of five in the knockout. The hard part is the hall, where six matches run at once, scores sit on six tables and the bracket cannot start until the last group result is in.
The day on six tables, 16 players
09:30 — check-in closes. Four groups of four are on the board, first-round matches assigned to tables.
10:00 — the group stage starts on all six tables. Each group of four plays six matches, so the hall has 24 to get through. Planned at 20 minutes per best-of-three match, that is four rounds of tables.
11:30 — the last group result is confirmed with a few minutes to spare. Closing the group stage puts the top two of each group into an eight-player bracket.
11:45 — quarter-finals, best of five, on four tables. The two free tables stay open for warm-up.
12:30 — semi-finals on two tables.
13:15 — the final and the match for third place, side by side.
13:45 — prizes. The bracket on the public page has been complete since the last point.
With 24 players the day still fits, but the groups grow to six players each: 15 matches per group, 60 in total, ten rounds of tables. Plan a full day.
Groups, advancement and how long a match is
JudgeMate runs one to four groups and takes 1, 2, 4 or 8 players through from each (4 and 8 only with a single group). For 16 players, four groups of four with two advancing gives a clean eight-player knockout and guarantees everyone three group matches. Twenty players means four groups of five, 40 group matches.
The ITTF leaves match length open: a match is the best of any odd number of games, and a game goes to 11 unless the score reaches 10-10, after which the first player two points clear wins it. A one-day schedule works with best of three in the groups and best of five from the quarter-finals.
In JudgeMate you set the format once for the whole draw: points per game (11, 15, 21 or 25) and games to win (1, 2 or 3). Then you raise individual matches. With an eight-player bracket, that is eight matches to switch to best of five, or only the final and third place if the morning is tight. Best of seven is not available.
The expedite system makes a slot plannable. If a game is unfinished after 10 minutes and fewer than 18 points have been played, service alternates every point and the receiver wins the rally after 13 good returns. It stays in force to the end of the match, so one defensive duel cannot hold a table all morning.
Seeding, the group table and what to print in your rules
Seeding. In an ITTF knockout draw the first seed goes to the top of the first half, the second to the bottom of the second half, and seeds 3 and 4 are drawn between the bottom of the first half and the top of the second. For a club, seed by the internal ranking or last season's result, and say which.
In JudgeMate you give the seeded players a number. In groups plus knockout they are spread in a snake: seeds 1 to 4 head groups A to D, seeds 5 to 8 run back from D to A, the rest is drawn. The winners of groups A and B land in opposite halves of the bracket, so if seeds 1 and 2 both win their groups, they can only meet in the final. In a straight knockout the seeds sit on fixed positions, semi-finals 1 against 4 and 2 against 3. If you want the ITTF lot for seeds 3 and 4, draw it yourself and number them accordingly.
The group table. ITTF regulations give 2 match points for a win, 1 for a loss in a played match and 0 for an unplayed or unfinished one. A new table tennis category in JudgeMate starts with these ITTF standings rules, 0 for a walkover included. Players level on points are separated only by the matches between them: points, then game ratio, then point ratio, and once one of them is separated, the rest are counted again. Under Standings rules you can switch to DTTB (WO D 7.5) or to Custom points. A tie that still decides a place blocks the group from closing until you settle it, which in ITTF terms is a drawing of lots.
Print the walkover rule and the tie-break order on the entry form. Members see the updated table on their phones less than a minute after the last group match, because the public page refreshes itself every 40 seconds.
Tables, umpires and the score everyone can see
ITTF regulations want the score displayed so that it is clearly visible to players and spectators. At club level that means a flip counter on each table and one person who keeps it honest. A workable rule is that a player from the previous match on that table counts the next one.
When a match goes onto a table, start its scoreboard and the match gets a referee QR code. Scanning it opens the score panel for that match, so whoever counts enters the result at the table and the group table updates as soon as it is confirmed. If you switch on player reporting, players can also report group match scores themselves and the opponent confirms them; bracket results you confirm yourself.
Build the slot from the regulations: up to two minutes of warm-up at the table, up to one minute between games and one time-out of up to a minute for each player. Twenty minutes for best of three and thirty for best of five leave room for all of that.
Put the results on the big screen in the hall. The display view shows the group tables and, after the final, the podium. The bracket is on the public results page that players open on their phones, so nobody has to queue at the control desk to ask who plays next.
Setting the championship up in JudgeMate
Allow about 20 minutes the week before.
Create the event and choose table tennis. The category is singles by default. Pick groups + knockout, four groups, two advancing, and switch on the third-place match. The consolation round and consolation bracket are only available in a straight knockout.
Set an entry limit, for example 16. Once the category is full, further entries go onto the waiting list and you move players up by hand when someone withdraws. Mark each entry fee as paid or waived as it comes in. JudgeMate keeps the list; the money itself is collected the way your club already does it.
In the draw settings choose games to 11 and two games to win, then raise the knockout matches to three. Add your tables as resources with the start time and slot length, and generate the running order before the first ball.
On the day, press Start the scoreboard in the day console as each match goes onto a table. Its code then appears under Referee QR links, ready to print or show. Close the group stage when the last result is in, and the bracket fills itself. Start from table tennis in the create menu.
What JudgeMate does not do for table tennis
- No team matches. A Swaythling Cup or Corbillon Cup fixture cannot be entered as one match with its individual games. A club championship is singles or doubles; a team league needs a different tool.
- No best of seven. Games to win stop at three.
- No expedite timer. The score panel counts points and games; the umpire watches the 10-minute mark.
- No ITTF order of play inside a group. With two players advancing, ITTF regulations save the match between numbers 2 and 3 of a group for last. The JudgeMate schedule does not.
- No ratings and no payments. There is no rating or federation ranking, and entry fees are only recorded.
Set up your event
Free for organizers. No athlete cap. No commission on registrations. See table tennis features · Organizer guide