8

By checking the number of games on the drawing sheet, one can see that it is
necessary to play 12 games before L is crowned with the championship. This
verifies the result obtained by the formula (N-1).

Seeding -

It is sometimes desirable to seed some players or teams that are known to be
much better than others. In the case of the 13 contestant size tournament, four
players could be seeded so that they would not meet until after the second round
games are played, provided that they survive. This prevents the good teams from
eliminating each other in an early round. In seeding a 13 team tournament, let us
assume that teams A, C, G, and L, are’outstanding and are named in order of their
excellence. (See figure two) The steps are as follows:

1. Place teams A and C on opposite halves of the drawing sheet, for example
lines 1 and 16.

2. Place G and L in the quarter positions in lines 5 and 11 by drawing.

3. As there are 13 teams it is necessary to give 3 byes, one in the upper
half and two in the lower half. Put the line numbers of 2, 3, 4, 6, 7, and 8 in
a container and draw the bye. (Number 7 wins.)

us Uraw the Other two byes trom tinos 9, 10, 12,°13, 1h, and 15... (15 and
£3 win.)

5» Draw the teams to the remaining lines.

The method of seeding outlined is not that of the United States National
Lavm Tennis Association. Their method can be easily found in their publication,
"The Annual Lawn Tennis Guide". In the method outlined, the seeded players are
given byes only as they can draw them in competition with the remaining players.
In other words a seeded player or team is not given any obvious advantage such as
a bye, excepting on the basis of chance, which is also open to the other teams.
This is more fair to all, especially to "Dark Horses" who are better than they
were rated.

Consolation Tournaments

In one type of consolation tournament, the losers in each round play each
other and remain in the running for the second and the third place in the tourna-—
ment. This also means that all teams will play at least two games before they
are eliminated from all tournament consideration.

In the other type of consolation tournament only the losers in the first
round matches are allowed in the consolation matches. These are played supple-
mentary to the main tournament. The losers can thus get on with the consolation
playoff without holding up the play, waiting on second or third round losers.
Both types are shown in Fig. 3 where the first round losers of the single 13 team
elimination tournament illustrating seeding (Figure 2) have been placed in the
brackets above the dotted line. In the brackets below the dotted line, the
additional losers have been placed as the main tournament progressed. As the
winners move to the right, they are matched with teams of equal standing. For
example, in the C and D match, team D lost one game and won three, while C lost
one game and won three. In the final game C is matched with A for second place
in the tournament where C, the loser, was awarded third place.