Build draws, groups, and playoff brackets

Use Draws to turn an event structure into actual groups or playoff brackets. Assign event entries to draws here, then generate the matches that will later be scheduled and played.

Before you start

Add every required event entry on Entries. See Manage entries, doubles pairs, and seeding.
Finish declared seeding before generating any matches.
If you designed a format plan, create its empty actual structure first. See Plan the tournament format.

Understand phases, draws, and matches

A phase is an ordered stage of one event. A draw is one competition structure inside a phase. A match is an actual contest generated from a draw.

A Groups phase can contain one or several round-robin draws. Each draw is one group.
A Knockout phase can contain one or several playoff draws. Each draw is a separate bracket.
An unphased draw belongs to the event but not to a phase.
A draw holds a lineup. Generating matches copies that lineup into actual match records.

Planned phases and draws on Format are saved descriptions. Actual phases and draws on Draws are independent records. Editing or deleting an actual phase or draw does not update the format plan, and later plan edits do not update the actual structure.

Create Draws… on Format creates actual phases and empty draws with the planned names, kinds, order, and sizes. It does not assign entries or generate matches. Use Plan the tournament format for that creation procedure.

Navigate Draws

Open Tournament → Draws.

Select an event tab. The number beside an event is its draw count.
If phases exist, select a phase tab. The tabs follow phase order and show the number of draws in each phase.
Select Draws, Lineups, or Matches for the intended task.

The three inner tabs have different purposes:

Draws lists the draw records in the selected phase. Expand a draw to review its assigned entries, rename the draw inline, or delete it when it has no matches. Use Add Draw here.
Lineups assigns entries to round-robin groups or to playoff draws. It also contains Auto Distribute, Clear Groups, and Delete empty groups for groups.
Matches generates and displays round-robin matches or playoff brackets. Match results and standings are covered in later chapters.

If an event has phases and also has draws with no phase, an Unphased tab appears. It is shown only while at least one unphased draw exists. If the event has no phases, its unphased draws are shown directly without an Unphased tab.

If the tournament has no events, the page shows No events defined. Create event categories in tournament settings first. If the selected phase has no draws, the page shows No draws in this phase yet. You can still use Add phase or open Draws and use Add Draw.

Create and edit actual phases

Actual phases are created in sequence. The first phase has order 1; each new phase is appended. The current screen has no action for moving an actual phase up or down, so create phases in competition order.

Select the event.
Select Add phase.
Enter Name.
Under Kind, select Round-robin for groups or Knockout for playoff brackets.
Select Create.

Select the phase and then Edit phase to change its name. You can also change Kind while the phase contains no draws or virtual tables. As soon as either exists in the phase, the kind controls are unavailable and the dialog says Kind can’t be changed because this phase already has rounds. Virtual tables are covered in the next chapter.

An actual phase can be deleted only while it contains no draws or virtual tables. Select Edit phase, select Delete, and confirm Delete phase «name»? Deleting a phase closes the gap in the order of the remaining phases. For example, phases 1, 2, and 3 become 1 and 2 after phase 2 is deleted.

These actions do not change planned phases on Format.

Create draws manually

Open Tournament → Draws, select the event and intended phase, then select the inner Draws tab.

Create round-robin groups

Select Add Draw.
If you are creating an unphased draw, select Round Robin. A Groups phase fixes this type automatically.
Enter the base name.
Enter entries if you want to record a Size.
Enter the number of groups.
Select Add Draw.

The app creates the requested count as separate draws. It always adds a number to the base name. For example, a base name of Group with Count 3 creates Group 1, Group 2, and Group 3. Numbering continues after the event’s existing round-robin draws.

For a round-robin draw, Size is displayed as the intended number of entries. It does not limit assignments and does not control match generation. The generated match count uses the actual lineup.

Create a playoff draw

Select Add Draw.
If you are creating an unphased draw, select Playoff. A Knockout phase fixes this type automatically.
Enter the draw name.
Enter entries if the draw may need an empty bracket before its entries are known.
Select All entries if every current event entry should be added to this draw immediately.
Select Add Draw.

A playoff addition creates one draw. To create several playoff brackets in the same Knockout phase, repeat the action. The app does not add a number to a playoff name automatically.

The selected phase restricts the draw type: a Groups phase accepts only Round Robin, and a Knockout phase accepts only Playoff. In Unphased, or when no phases exist, the form offers both types.

Draws created with Create Draws… on Format appear in the same lists as manually created draws. They already have their phase, type, name, order, and Size, but their lineups are empty and they have no matches.

Prepare round-robin group lineups

Select a Groups phase and open Lineups. The left panel is Unassigned, and each group is a separate block on the right.

Assign and move entries

Drag an entry from Unassigned into a group.
To move several unassigned entries together, select their cards and drag one selected card into a group.
To move one entry between groups, drag it from its current group to another group.
To remove an entry from the group stage, drag it back to Unassigned.

Within the selected phase, an assigned entry disappears from Unassigned, so the normal interface does not offer it to a second group. Moving it removes the old assignment before adding the new one. The same event entry may still be used in a draw in another phase.

Adding an entry to a draw applies the event age restriction. If a player is outside that range, the assignment fails. A missing birth year does not block the assignment.

Distribute the remaining entries

Select Auto Distribute to place every currently unassigned entry across the visible round-robin groups. Existing assignments stay where they are.

The operation first considers declared seed values:

Exact seeds are processed from the lowest number upward.
Seed groups use the lower number of the declared range for balancing. They do not receive a resolved playoff position during group distribution.
Seeded entries are placed greedily into groups with the lowest current seed weight, which normally separates the strongest seeds.
Entries without a declared seed are shuffled, then placed into the remaining balanced spaces.

The target counts are calculated from all entries already assigned to these groups plus all currently unassigned entries. When the division is even, the groups receive equal totals. Otherwise, some groups receive one more entry. If there are more groups than entries, some groups remain empty. Existing overfilled groups are not reduced or rearranged, so preassignments can leave the final sizes uneven.

Auto Distribute does not use Size as a capacity limit. Review every group after distribution.

Clear or remove empty groups

Use Clear Groups to return every entry in the visible round-robin groups to Unassigned. Confirm Clear all groups?

If any of those groups already has matches, the app blocks the operation with Cannot clear groups. Delete the group matches first.

Use Delete empty groups to delete all currently empty round-robin draws in the selected phase. Confirm Delete empty groups? This removes the draw records, not event entries.

If an empty group is used as a source by a playoff draw, it is kept and the app reports which playoff draw references it. Other unreferenced empty groups can still be deleted during the same operation.

Generate round-robin matches

Finish the lineup first, then open Matches.

Find the intended group.
Check that it contains at least two entries.
Select Generate Matches.

Every pair of entries receives one match. For n entries, the total is n × (n - 1) / 2.

An even-sized group has n - 1 tours and n / 2 matches in each tour.
An odd-sized group has n tours and (n - 1) / 2 matches in each tour. Each entry has one bye tour; no match record is created for the bye.

With fewer than two entries, Generate Matches is unavailable and the group says Add at least 2 entries to generate matches.

The standard per-draw workflow does not show Regenerate. When matches exist and the standings are not locked, it shows Delete matches instead.

Before you delete matches: The confirmation warns that every match in this draw will be deleted and any entered results will be lost. Scheduled times, court assignments, statuses, scores, and set data belong to those matches and are deleted with them. The group lineup remains, and its standings values are reset.

After confirming Delete matches, return to Lineups, make the required changes, then select Generate Matches again.

The current interface still permits individual drag-and-drop lineup changes while group matches exist, even though Clear Groups is blocked. Those changes do not rebuild the existing matches. Delete the matches before changing the lineup to keep the draw consistent.

Prepare a playoff lineup

Select a Knockout phase and open Lineups. Each playoff draw shows its current entries and Available entries.

Select the plus action beside one available entry to add it.
Select Add all to add every entry currently available to that draw.
Select the remove action beside an assigned entry to return it to the available list.

Finish the lineup before creating the bracket. The add and remove actions remain visible after bracket matches exist, but changing them does not rebuild the bracket. If a bracket already exists, use Reset bracket before changing its lineup.

Size is not applied consistently as a capacity:

Generate Bracket builds from the actual entry count and ignores the saved Size.
Generate empty bracket builds from Size because no complete lineup is available yet.
Adding entries does not stop when Size is reached.

Treat Size as the intended empty-bracket capacity, not as a validated lineup limit.

Generate a playoff bracket

Open Matches after the playoff draw contains at least two entries.

Check the lineup and declared seeds.
Select Generate Bracket.

The draw resolves every lineup entry to one unique numerical draw position:

An exact declared seed keeps that number.
Entries in a seed group are randomly assigned unused positions within their declared range.
Entries without a declared seed are randomly assigned the remaining positions.

The declared seed remains attached to the event entry. The resolved draw position is a separate value attached to that entry’s assignment in this playoff draw. A group declaration such as 3/4 therefore does not say whether this draw resolves the entry to 3 or 4.

The bracket size is the next power of two at or above the actual entry count. For example, 5, 6, or 7 entries produce an 8-position bracket with 7 match rows. Unused first-stage positions become byes. An entry facing a bye receives a Walkover and advances automatically.

Declared seeds must fit the bracket derived from the actual lineup. An exact seed cannot be greater than the entry count, and the upper end of a seed group cannot be greater than the derived bracket size. Correct the declared seeds or add the required entries before trying again.

Generate Bracket is unavailable with fewer than two entries unless the draw has a Size and qualifies for Generate empty bracket.

Prepare an empty bracket and source positions

Use an empty bracket when the playoff structure must exist before its qualifiers are known. The playoff draw must have a Size and fewer than two assigned entries.

Open the playoff draw on Matches.
Select Generate empty bracket.
Switch from Bracket to Manual.
For each first-stage position, leave —, select a concrete entry already in this playoff draw, or select a source from an earlier phase.
Select Apply.

The empty bracket uses the next power of two at or above Size. For example, Size 6 creates an 8-position bracket.

Source options are round-robin draws from an earlier phase of the same event. Aggregate qualifier sources configured for an earlier Groups phase can also appear. A target playoff draw without a phase has no earlier-phase source options, and draws in the same or a later phase are not offered.

A source label has the form draw — P1, such as Group 2 — P1. It links that bracket position to place 1 from the named source. It is not yet a transferred entry.

If the source place is not decided, the bracket keeps the source label and waits. The reference prevents that empty position from being treated as an ordinary bye. Resolving standings and transferring the qualifying entry are covered in the next chapter.

Within the current Manual selections, an entry already used in one position is disabled elsewhere. The same is true for a source identified by its draw and place. The service checks both rules again when you apply.

Reset selections discards only edits made in the Manual view since it was opened or last applied. It does not clear the saved bracket. Apply replaces all saved first-stage selections with the values currently shown and recalculates pre-start byes.

The Manual view is available while no bracket match is Live, Finished, or Retired. Automatic bye Walkover rows do not hide it. Once a match has started or finished, manual reassignment is rejected.

After entries are added to a completely empty bracket, Fill bracket can appear. In the current version, this action does not complete because resolved draw positions are blocked while bracket matches already exist. Do not rely on Fill bracket. Place the entries with Manual, or use Reset bracket and then Generate Bracket if no source references need to be preserved.

Delete and rebuild safely

Different reset actions preserve different data.

Delete the matches from one group

Use Delete matches on Matches. It deletes only that group’s matches and their schedule and result data. It keeps the draw and lineup, and resets the group standings values. You can edit the lineup and generate the matches again.

The action is not shown while that group’s standings are locked.

Reset one playoff bracket

Before you reset: Reset bracket deletes every match in that playoff draw. Any schedule assignments and entered results are lost. Source references stored in those bracket positions are also deleted.

Confirm Reset bracket? The draw and its lineup remain. Selecting Generate Bracket again performs a fresh resolution, so entries with grouped or no declared seed can receive different resolved positions.

Reset bracket remains available even after matches have started or finished. Check the bracket carefully before confirming.

Delete a draw

A draw’s Delete draw action appears in the expanded Draws view only when that draw has no matches. Delete or reset its matches first.

If Delete draw does not appear immediately after deleting the matches, leave and reopen Draws to refresh the stored match count.

Before you delete the draw: Confirming Delete draw? permanently deletes the draw, its lineup assignments, and its standings rows. Event entries remain available on Entries and can be assigned elsewhere.

If any playoff bracket uses this draw as a source, deletion is blocked with Cannot delete this draw — it is referenced as a source by these playoff draws: The message lists each consumer. First clear the saved source selections in the consumer’s Manual view and select Apply, or reset that consumer bracket. Then try deleting the source draw again.

Deleting a consumer playoff draw or resetting its bracket deletes the source references held by its matches. It does not delete the source draw.

After a draw is deleted, you can create another draw manually. If every actual draw in the event has been deleted, Format can also offer plan materialization again; review any actual phases that remain before repeating it.

Fix common problems

The required entry is missing from Unassigned

The entry is already assigned to another visible group, or it is not an event entry. Check every group in the selected phase. To move it, drag it from its current group. To create or restore the event entry, use Entries.

The phase kind cannot be changed

The phase already contains at least one draw or virtual table. Delete the draw matches, remove every draw and virtual table in the phase, then edit the phase kind. Remember that deleting draws removes their lineups.

The phase cannot be deleted

Only a phase without draws or virtual tables can be deleted. Remove every draw first; if the phase contains virtual tables, remove them from Edit phase as described in the next chapter.

Clear Groups is blocked

At least one visible round-robin group has matches. Use Delete matches for each affected group, then return to Lineups and select Clear Groups again.

Generate Matches is unavailable

The group contains fewer than two entries. Add another entry on Lineups.

The playoff lineup is larger than Size

The lineup controls do not enforce Size. For a normal Generate Bracket, the actual entry count determines the bracket and Size is ignored. For an empty bracket, reset it and choose a suitable Size in a new draw before relying on its capacity.

Generate Bracket fails

Check that the draw contains at least two entries and has no existing matches. Then check declared seeding: exact seeds must fit the entry count, seed-group ranges must fit the derived bracket, and every protected range must have enough available positions.

If the draw is an existing empty bracket, use Manual for direct assignments. The current Fill bracket action is not a working recovery path.

A source draw is not offered

The source must belong to the same event, use an eligible group source, and be in a phase earlier than the playoff phase. Unphased, same-phase, later-phase, other-event, and playoff draws are not offered.

A source draw cannot be deleted

One or more playoff positions still reference it. Clear those positions in Manual and select Apply, or reset the consumer bracket, then delete the source draw.

Delete draw is still hidden after deleting matches

The outer Draws list can retain its earlier match count. Leave and reopen Draws, expand the draw again, and use Delete draw.

The lineup cannot be changed safely after matches exist

The current controls may still allow individual additions, removals, or drag-and-drop, but existing matches are not rebuilt. Delete the group matches or reset the playoff bracket first, change the lineup, then generate again.

Before you continue

Check that every required entry is assigned once within each intended group phase.
Check actual group counts against their displayed Sizes; Size is not enforced.
Review every resolved playoff position and every source label.
Confirm that no old matches, source references, schedules, or results remain in a structure you rebuilt.