USA Badminton Tournament Regulations

USA BADMINTON TOURNAMENT REGULATIONS
(Last Updated On May 17, 2005)

The following Tournament Regulations have been approved by the USAB Court Officials Committee. The Regulations shall be adopted in all domestic National Ranking tournaments. It is recommended that they be used in knock-out events of all domestic tournaments.


1. THE DRAW

a) The draw for all knock-out events shall be made in the manner set out below and no dummy entry is permitted.

b) When the number of playing units is four, eight, sixteen, or any higher power of two, they shall meet in pairs in the first round and there shall be no byes.

c) When the number of playing units is not a power of two, there shall be byes in the first round. The byes shall be placed as described in Section 5 of these Regulations.

d) To ensure even strength throughout the draw, the draw may be seeded and shadow seeded as described in Regulations 2 and 3.

e) To avoid players from the same geographical area meeting in the early rounds, they shall be distributed evenly throughout the draw as described in Regulation 4.


2. SEEDS

In domestic USAB National Ranking tournaments the seeds shall be determined by the USAB Ranking Committee. In these tournaments, a player/pair which does not have a National Ranking at the time the draw is made, may be seeded in no higher than a 3/4 position if there are players/pairs in the draw that have a National Ranking of 5 or higher at the time the draw is made.


a) The number of seeds shall be as follows:

     i) Two seeds if there are less than 16 entries.
     ii) A maximum of four seeds if there are between 16 and 31 entries.
     iii) A maximum of eight seeds if there are between 32 and 63 entries.

b) The seeds shall be placed as follows, while taking account of the requirements of Regulation 4:

     i) Seeded entries in the top half of the draw shall be placed at the top of their sections (halves, quarters, eighths, etc.) and seeded entries in the bottom half of the draw shall be placed at the bottom of their sections (halves, quarters, eighths, etc.).

     ii) If two entries are to be seeded, number one shall be placed at the top of the upper half and number two at the bottom of the lower half.

      iii) If four entries are to be seeded, numbers one and two shall be placed as above; numbers three and four shall be drawn by lot to the appropriate positions in the remaining two quarters.

      iv) If eight entries are to be seeded, numbers one to four shall be placed as above; the remainder shall be drawn by lot to the appropriate positions in the remaining eighths of the draw.

      v) Where the full number of seeds permissible is not taken up, the positions allocated to those in the partial seed group (3/4, 5/8, etc.) shall be drawn by lot from all possible seeding positions for that seed group.

      vi) Seeds should be listed in the top right-hand comer of the draw sheet in the following format:

                           1. PPP
                           2. DDD
                           3/4. AAA (if appropriate)
                           3/4. BBB (if appropriate)
                           5/8. CCC (if appropriate)
                           5/8. DDD (if appropriate)
                           5/8. EEE (if appropriate)
                           5/8. FFF (if appropriate)
                           -The 3/4 and 5/8 groups of seeds shall be listed in alphabetical order.


3. SHADOW SEEDS

In domestic USAB National Ranking tournaments the shadow seeds shall be determined by the USAB Ranking Committee.

a) The number of shadow seeds permitted shall be as follows:

     i) A maximum of two shadow seeds if there are between 5 and 15 entries.
     ii) A maximum of four shadow seeds if there are between 16 and 31 entries.
     iii) A maximum of eight shadow seeds if there are between 31 and 63 entries.
     iv) The number of shadow seeds shall not exceed the number of seeds.


b) The shadow seeds shall be placed as follows, while taking account of the requirements of Regulation 4:

     i) The shadow seeds shall be treated as one group of equal rank and not individually ranked.

     ii) For draws with an even number of shadow seeds, the same number of shadow seeds shall be placed in the top and bottom halves; for draws with an odd number of shadow seeds, the number of shadow seeds in each half shall be as close to parity as possible.

     iii) For a draw of seven entries containing shadow seeds, the second seed shall not play a shadow seed in the first round.

     iv) For a draw between eight and 15 entries, the shadow seed shall not be drawn into a quarter occupied by a seed.

     v) For a draw between 16 and 31 entries, a shadow seed shall not be drawn into an eighth occupied by a seed. Where two shadow seeds are to be drawn into the same half of the draw, they shall be drawn into different eighths of that half of the draw.

     vi) For a draw between 32 and 63 entries, a shadow seed shall not be drawn into a sixteenth occupied by a seed. Where two, three, or four shadow seeds are to be drawn into the same half of the draw, they shall be drawn into different sixteenths of that half of the draw.


4. GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION

It is the tournament director's and referee's responsibility to ensure that a draw contains a satisfactory distribution of player geographies. What constitutes an appropriate geographical unit (state, town, club, etc.) pertaining to the basis of separation will depend on the specific entries received for an event and its selection shall be left to these officials to determine.

a) Before the draw is made, the tournament director and referee shall select a geographical unit (state, town, club, etc.) as a basis for separating entries appropriate to the diversity of entries received for the event.

b) A doubles pair consisting of players from different geographical units shall be regarded as not coming from any particular geographical unit.

c) The first and second ranked entries from a particular geographical unit shall be drawn by lot into opposite halves of the draw.

d) The third and fourth ranked entries from a particular geographical unit shall be drawn by lot into the two remaining quarters of the draw.

e) Where there are 32 or more entries, the fifth to eighth ranked entries from a particular geographical unit shall be drawn by lot into the four remaining eighths of the draw.

f) A player (singles)/pair (doubles) shall not face or have the potential to face a player (singles)/pair (doubles) from the same geographical unit in their first match, where practically possible.


5. POSITIONING OF BYES AND SEEDS IN THE DRAW

Using the following instructions with Table 1 will lead to correct positioning of byes and seeds in any draw between 3 and 64 entries.

Instructions

a) On a sheet of paper, write a column from 1, 2, 3 downward up to the number of entries in the draw.

b) Write "bye" alongside those numbers of your column corresponding to the bye positions given in Table 1 for that size draw.

c) Write the seed numbers (e.g. 1, 2, 3/4, 5/8, etc.) alongside those numbers of your column corresponding to the seed positions given in Table 1 for that size draw.

d) Obtain a draw template of appropriate size e.g., for a draw of size 13 use a draw template of size 16, for a draw of size 26 use a draw template of size 32.

e) Transfer the bye and seed information from your sheet of paper onto the draw template.


6. QUALIFYING ROUNDS

a) Where entries exceed the required places in the main competition draw, the organizers are recommended to play qualifying rounds under the supervision of the tournament committee or referee as provided for in Regulations 6b to 6g. The draw for the qualifying competition shall be done in accordance with Regulations 1 to 5.

b) The players or pairs not directly in the main competition shall play for a limited number of places fixed by the organizers and it is recommended that this number not exceed one for each eight places in the main draw.

c) The places allocated for qualifying players/pairs in the main draw shall be drawn by lot subject to the requirement that they be distributed evenly throughout the draw (e.g. one qualifying place per quarter, etc.). This draw shall be made and published before play begins in qualifying rounds.

d) Where players or pairs withdraw their entry from the main competition, the organizers may fill the vacancies from the entries in the qualifying rounds, provided these entries have not yet lost a match.

e) The players to fill vacancies in the main competition shall beforehand be selected in order of strength and shall be placed in the draw by lot when there is more than one vacancy to be filled.

f) The referee may re-draw a particular qualifying draw if, in his/her sole opinion, it has been rendered significantly unbalanced by the implementation of Regulations 6d and 6e and if play in that draw has not begun.

g) If more players or pairs enter the competition than the organizers can accept even in the qualifying round, then these players/pairs shall beforehand be selected in order of strength and shall be placed in the qualifying draw by lot when there is more than one vacancy to be filled.

h) It is recommended that as far as practicable, geographical separation (as in Regulation 4) should be used in the qualifying rounds.


7. ADDITIONS TO THE DRAW

The referee shall be responsible for making all decisions regarding additions to the draw.

a) The referee shall only allow the addition of a player/pair to a draw if both Regulations 7a(i) and 7a(ii) are met:

     i) Written documentation is available that the player/pair submitted an entry for the draw, and the entry was accepted by the tournament director prior to the draw being made.

     ii) The player/pair was inadvertently omitted from the draw, and play in that draw has not begun.

b) In doubles, a player who submitted a "partner request" at the time of entry and for whom no partner was available at the time the draw was made, shall not be added into the draw if a partner becomes available at a later time. The player shall be added to the waitlist.

c) If a player/pair is to be added to a draw, then the original draw shall be expanded according to Table 1.

d) If the player/pair to be added to the draw would have been neither a seed nor a shadow seed in the original draw, then the additional first round match created by expansion of the original draw shall be between the player/pair added to the draw and the player/pair originally placed in a bye position but now required to play a first round match according to Table 1.
Regulation 4 shall not be applied.

e) If the player/pair to be added to the draw would have been either a seed or a shadow seed in the original draw, then a new list of seeds and shadow seeds shall be created. The positions of the original seeds and shadow seeds shall be modified while maintaining the integrity of the original draw process, such that in the revised draw the new seeds and shadow seeds are positioned appropriately as described in Regulations 2 and 3 and in accordance with Regulation 4. If in the sole discretion of the referee the integrity of the original draw process is compromised, then the referee may elect to completely redraw the draw.


8. ALTERATIONS TO THE DRAW AND SUBSTITUTIONS

The referee shall be responsible for making all decisions regarding alterations to the draw and substitutions.

a) The referee shall only be permitted to make an alteration to the draw if either Regulation 8a(i) is met, or if both Regulations 8a(ii) and 8a(iii) are met:

     i) An error has been made in implementing Regulations 2 to 5, and play in that draw has not begun;

     ii) Prior to his/her first scheduled match, a player is prevented from competing through illness, injury, or other unavoidable hindrance;

     iii) The substitute player/pair would have been either unseeded, or seeded in no higher a seeding group (3/4, 5/8, etc.) than the original player/pair.


b) The position of no other player/pair in the draw shall be affected by a substitution.

c) Subject to Regulation 8a, substitution in doubles is permitted only:

     i) If the constitution of no other pair is affected;

     ii) To enable the remaining players from two original pairs affected by Regulation 8a(ii) to partner each other. In this case, if one of the original pairs has drawn a bye, that place in the draw shall be filled by the reconstituted pair without Regulation 4 being applied; if both or neither of the original pairs has drawn a bye then the place of the reconstituted pair shall be determined according to the requirements of Regulation 4, if applicable; otherwise the place shall be drawn by lot.


d) If one player in a doubles pair is prevented from competing through illness, injury, or other unavoidable hindrance, that pair as a whole shall be substituted for by a doubles pair on the waitlist satisfying Regulation 8a(iii) and Regulation 4f. If there are no doubles pairs on the waitlist satisfying both Regulation 8a(iii) and Regulation 4f, then the referee may to choose to permit a doubles pair on the waitlist satisfying Regulation 8a(iii) only to substitute into the draw. If there are no doubles pairs on the waitlist satisfying Regulation 8a(iii) then the player in the original doubles pair unable to compete through illness, injury, or other unavoidable hindrance shall be substituted for by a player on the waitlist.

e) Regulation 8c(ii) has priority over Regulation 8d.

f) If there are multiple players/pairs wishing to substitute into a draw, the player/pair which is highest in priority on the waitlist and satisfying both Regulation 8a(iii) and Regulation 4f shall be substituted into the draw.  If there are no players/pairs on the waitlist satisfying both Regulation 8a(iii) and Regulation 4f, then the referee may choose to permit the player/pair highest in priority on the waitlist satisfying Regulation 8a(iii) only to substitute into the draw.

g) Substitutions under Regulation 8 take priority over changes under Regulations 6d and 6e.

h) A player/pair who lose(s) a match shall not play again in the same event in the same tournament.

i) In events played under the pool system or in groups, the referee may allow substitution of a player/pair if the original player/pair is prevented from competing through illness, injury, or other unavoidable hindrance. Such substitution can only take place until the first match of that player/pair has started, but once started, no substitution can take place, all matches of that pair (both played and unplayed) being treated as if won by the opponent(s) 15-0, 15-0, etc.

j) In the interests of the tournament, the referee may elect not to permit a substitution otherwise allowed under Regulations 6 and 8.


9. DEFAULTS

The referee shall be responsible for making all decisions regarding defaults.

a) A player/pair who is not ready to play ten minutes after their match is called is subject to default.

b) If it is known that a player has been unavoidably delayed, the referee may elect to hold that player's match until a time no later than the scheduled time of the next match in that event of the player or his opponent, whichever is earlier.

c) A player shall be granted a 30-minute break between matches, if requested.