We often hear of seeding or ranking of players in many sports. Let us take a quick look at how such ranking is calculated. And also, how the ranking of players is taken into account during draws of the tournament.
Generally the State, National or International associations define points awarded to players in lieu of the player’s performance at various tournaments that the association oversees. For example, in lawn tennis, the ATP awards points for each of the various tournaments that it oversees such as the various Grand slams, Olympics, Davis Cup, World Championships, various national and regional championships etc.. For each of the tournaments it will define the points awarded for player’s performance such as winner, finalist, semi-finalist, quarter-finalist, round of 16, round of 32,… Based on the past performance in the previous 52 weeks, the total points accumulated by the player are calculated, and this will determine their world ranking.
How is seeding different from ranking?
Now for a specific tournament, we often hear about seeding. How is seeding different from ranking? Seeding is specific to a tournament whereas ranking is absolute and is unique across tournaments. The ranking will translate into seeding for the tournament, based on who is participating or not in that particular tournament. So for example if world rank no. 1 player is not playing in tournament A, then rank no. 2 player will become the top seed. Further, the seeding for the tournament is also determined based on the player’s past performance in same or similar tournaments.
So, how does seeding exactly work while taking draws or fixtures of a tournament?
The tournament organiser will calculate the seeding of various top players participating in the tournament. During fixtures, the organiser will ensure that the top seeds do not meet each other during the early rounds of the tournament. In other words, the fixtures are drawn such that the top eight seeds do not clash with each other until the round of 8 (or the quarter-finals); the top four seeds do not clash with each other until the round of 4 (or the semi-finals) in a traditional knockout format.
How does What’s Score handle seeding in draws?
During player registration process, What’s Score provides the organiser an option to update seed numbers for the various players. Then while taking draws, the system automatically ensures that the fixtures are drawn in such a way that the top seeds do not clash with each other during the early stages. All this in just a matter of a few clicks of your mouse, and your tournament is all set to run!