Qualifying rounds: Qualifying rounds: There will be at least eight qualifying rounds with the last round starting no later than 5pm. Each round will consist of eight four-player games with all players competing in each round. Before each round begins all players will be ranked. For the first round, rankings will be based on players' current WPPR ranking.
If anyone does not arrive by the start time of 11am, then their ball will be plunged in the normal course of the game but if they arrive mid-game they may still play any remaining balls.
The top four ranked players will play each other. The next four highest ranked players will also play each other, etc. Therefore, in summary, the matches will be played as follows:
1st – 4th
5th – 8th
9th – 12th
13th – 16th
17th – 20th
21st – 24th
25th – 28th
29th – 32nd
33rd – 36th
Points will be awarded as follows for 4-player games:
1st – 9 points
2nd – 5 points
3rd – 2 points
4th – 0 points
If there are an odd number of players competing – if not everyone who registered turns up – and the number of players competing is not a multiple of four, then one or more games will have to be 3-player. The scoring for these 3-player games will be lower as there are fewer players competing. Points will be awarded as follows:
1st – 8 points
2nd – 4 points
3rd – 1 points
The lowest ranked groups will always be the 3-player games. To avoid this imbalance in scoring and to make the competition work best, please try to turn up if you have registered, or let us know as soon as possible in advance if you can't make it. Then we can offer your place to the next person on the reserve list.
After each round, players' points will be added together and all players will be re-ranked according to their total points. They will then play in groups according to their new ranking as per the first round.
For example, after the first round there will be the same number of players on 9 points, the same number of players on 5 points, the same number of players on 2 points and the same number of players on 0 points. Therefore the winners of each match will play each other in the second round. Obviously only four players can play in each match so when players are on the same points the player with the higher WPPR ranking will be deemed to have the higher position.
This will have the effect of evening out the competition. The higher ranked players will always play in the tougher match – they will play against those who are performing best in their sub-group.
End of qualifying: After the qualifying rounds, the points will be totalled and the top two players will be given a bye to the final. The next two players in 3rd and 4th get a bye to the semi-final. There will then be a quarter-final between the next four players, ie. 5th to 8th. If players in 2nd and 3rd, 4th and 5th, or 8th and 9th places are level on points, there will be a play-off on a machine which neither player has yet played. If they have played all machines between them, then the machine will be drawn at random.
Semi-final: The top 2 from the quarter final will then join 3rd and 4th for qualifying to play one game, with top 2 going through to the final to meet 1st and 2nd qualifiers.
Machine selection: At the beginning of the competition, the available machines will be allocated numbers all drawn at random. The top group will then be allocated to the lowest number machine and the second group the next lowest number etc. This process wil also apply for future rounds where the top group will always play the lowest numbered machine which has not yet been played by anyone in that group. This is intended to prevent a player from playing the same machine twice which could give them an undue advantage (or disadvantage!) In the later rounds, it may be necessary to play a machine already played by one or more players in which case it will be allocated to the lowest group. Machines for the quarter, semi and final will be drawn at random and must all be different. The machine for the final cannot be one used in previoous years' finals.
Machine settings: All machines will be set to three balls with no extra balls for the qualifying rounds. For the playoffs, machines will revert to four balls with no extra balls.
Order of play: For odd-numbered rounds the highest ranked player in the group will play first and the second highest will play second, etc. For even numbered rounds the highest ranked player will play last, etc.
For the quarter-final, semi-final and the final the order of play will be based on qualifying position with the choice of playing position being picked by the highest qualifier.