Ladder tournaments
Run a long-term ranking where players challenge those above them to climb the ladder.
1. Overview
Video coming soon
Watch: running a ladder tournament
A ladder is a long-running ranking rather than a one-day event. Every player (or team) holds a placement on the ladder, and improves it by challenging someone above them to a match. Ladders run for 1, 3 or 6 months — when the period ends, whoever holds the top placement is the winner.
The ladder comes in two variants: an individual ladder where each placement is a single player, and a team ladder where each placement is a fixed pair.
2. Creating a ladder
Pick the Ladder format.
In the tournament create form, choose Ladder and then Individual or Teams. Selecting Ladder automatically sets the scoring system to Standard (matches are reported as sets, so the scoring selector is locked) and switches the duration to months: 1, 3 or 6.
Video coming soon
Configure the ladder settings.
The format panel shows the ladder-specific options described below. General options — title, description, club, start date, mode, organizer approval, entry fee — work like any other tournament (see the Creating a tournament guide).
| Setting | Default | Range | What it does |
|---|---|---|---|
| Active challenges | Unlimited | Unlimited, 1, 2 or 3 | How many challenges a player may have running at the same time. |
| Challenge threshold | 3 | 1–24 positions | How far above their own placement a player may challenge. |
| Expiration time | 2 days | 1–24 days | How long an opponent has to respond to a challenge before it expires. |
| Wildcards | Off (0) | 0–8 per player | Wildcards let a player challenge beyond the threshold; each player starts with this many. |
| Activity points | Off (3/1/0) | Win 1–20, draw 0–10, loss 0–10 | Points awarded for playing challenges, rewarding active players. |
Choose the ladder settings carefully — they cannot be changed after the ladder is created. General details like the title, description and dates remain editable.
3. Players joining the ladder
Players join a ladder themselves — the manual Add player button is not available for ladders. Share the ladder the same way as any tournament: QR code, tournament key, link or direct invites.
- Individual ladder — players tap Join and get their own placement.
- Team ladder — a player invites a partner; once the partner accepts, the pair joins with a shared placement.
- Organizer approval and late participation work as usual: joins become requests for you to approve, and with late participation players can join after the ladder has started.
Start the ladder.
When your players are in, tap Start. Starting a ladder requires a Pro subscription. Placements are assigned as the ladder begins, and new late joiners are slotted onto the ladder when they are accepted.
Video coming soon
4. How the ladder and placements work
The ladder page shows the leaderboard sorted by placement — the top three wear crowns and your own row is highlighted. Next to each player above you, you'll see a Challenge button when they are within your reach, or Ongoing/Pending if a challenge between you already exists.
- You can only challenge players above your own placement, within the challenge threshold.
- If the challenger wins, they take the defeated player's placement and the loser moves down one.
- If the challenger loses, both stay where they are.
When the ladder's period ends, the player or team holding the highest placement is declared the winner, and challenging closes.
5. The challenge system
Video coming soon
Watch: challenging another player
Sending a challenge
Tap Challenge next to a player above you.
Propose between 2 and 5 possible dates for the match. The opponent gets a notification that you have challenged them.
Video coming soon
Responding to a challenge
The challenged player sees the request with a countdown and two options: Accept — pick one of the proposed dates and the match is scheduled — or Reschedule — propose 2 to 5 new dates back, which restarts the expiration timer.
If the opponent does not respond within the expiration time, the challenger is automatically granted the victory. The request card shows exactly how long is left.
Playing and reporting the match
An accepted challenge is played as a best-of-three-sets match. The challenger enters the set scores and submits the result; the opponent then confirms it — which finalizes the outcome and updates the placements — or declines it, which resets the scores for re-entry.
Keeping track
- Challenges are listed as Ongoing and Finished on the ladder page.
- Every challenge gets its own chat so the players can arrange the match.
- The Active challenges limit caps how many challenges and pending requests a player can have at once.
- As the organizer you can manage any challenge directly — enter the scores yourself and submit, or cancel it.
6. Wildcards
With wildcards enabled, each player starts with the configured number. A Wildcard button appears next to players who are above you but out of normal reach — using it lets you challenge beyond the threshold and consumes one wildcard.
7. Activity points
With activity points enabled, players earn the configured points for every challenge they play — win, draw or loss. They reward the players who keep the ladder alive, alongside their placement.
8. Good to know
- Ladders run on challenges, not rounds — there is no round schedule, no court list, and the big-screen TV view is not used.
- The ladder finishes automatically at the end of its period; there is no manual finish step.
- The dashboard card for a ladder shows its expiration time and challenge threshold at a glance.
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