Tournament Rules & Procedures

1. Entry Forms

a. Be sent out approximately FIVE weeks before the start of the tournament and the closing date for entries is to be set approximately 10 days before the start of the tournament.

b. Be sent for all non-invitation tournaments to the list of players held by the T&RA Secretariat and to all professionals.

c. State that:

1. In the case of T&RA sanctioned tournaments, entries will not be accepted from United Kingdom amateurs who are not members of the T&RA or from United Kingdom professionals who are not members of the RPA.
2. To be eligible for prize money United Kingdom professionals must be members of the RPA.
3. Predominately white clothing and footwear is to be worn although coloured tracksuits are permissible for knock-ups. If a manufacturer or sponsor’s logo is worn on clothing, it is to be no larger than two square inches on shirts or shorts.

d. Ask competitors to state times at which they will not be available to play, although the Organiser is not under any obligation to take account of such requests unless they suit other players.

e. Show clearly the date of the draw.

f. State any rules for the tournament which differ from the Laws of Rackets and which the Tournaments and Fixtures Sub Committee have agreed.

g. State the length of matches (see paragraph 3b).

2. Draws, Seeding and Byes

a. After the closing date for entries, discussions and decisions on seeding shall take place in advance of the draw.

b. The Organiser and one other person who ideally should be a professional, should conduct and witness (respectively) the draw.

c. Late entrants may only be included in the draw at the discretion of the organiser and in any event prior to the first ball of the tournament being struck. Late entrants may only be included in the draw to fill a space created by a withdrawal of another player/pair. Tournament organisers are to maintain reserve lists of late entrants.

d. If one half of a doubles pairing withdraws his partner can, prior to that pair’s first match, find a replacement who does not have to be on the reserve list.

e. A copy of the draw is to be sent as soon as possible to:

• Each player
• The sponsor
• The Chief Executive
• The T&RA Office
• The Organiser
• All stewards
• The host club

a. The number of seeds selected shall be at the sole discretion of the Tournament Committee, after taking all relevant factors into account. As a rule of thumb it would be appropriate to seed one player for approximately each three entrants, with the precise number of seeds rounded to the nearest even number.

b. Up to four seeds: seeds 1 & 2 shall be placed at the top and bottom of the draw and seeds 3 & 4 shall be drawn to potentially play seeds 1 & 2 in the semi-finals.

c. Up to eight seeds: seeds 1 & 2 shall be placed at the top and bottom of the draw and seeds 3 & 4 shall be drawn to potentially play seeds 1 & 2 in the semi finals. Seeds 5, 6, 7 & 8 shall be drawn to potentially play seeds 1, 2, 3 & 4 in the quarter finals.

d. For SINGLES, seedings should be based on: (i) the Elite World Ranking System; and (ii) thereafter, the Neptune World Ranking System, in each case, as displayed on the T&RA Website at the closing date for entries. It shall be the responsibility of the Tournament Organiser to obtain extracts of the relevant Web pages on the day in question.

e. For DOUBLES, seedings should be based on: (i) the Doubles World Ranking System; (ii) thereafter, the Elite World Ranking System and (iii) thereafter, the Neptune World Ranking System, in each case as displayed on the T&RA Website at the closing date for entries. It shall be the responsibility of the Tournament Organiser to obtain extracts of the relevant Web pages on the day in question. For non-QT DOUBLES, current holders may, at the discretion of the Organiser, be seeded 1.

f. If seed 1 drops out, seed 3 moves into seed 1 place and is replaced by seed 5. The 9th best player in the draw moves into the seed 5 position and is replaced by the next best entrant to the tournament (if there is one).

g. If seed 2 drops out, seed 4 moves into seed 2 place and is replaced by seed 5. The 9th best player in the draw moves into the seed 5 position and is replaced by the next best entrant to the tournament (if there is one).

h. If seed 3 or seed 4 drops out they are replaced by seed 5. The 9th best player in the draw moves into the seed 5 position and is replaced by the next best entrant to the tournament (if there is one).

i. If seed 5-8 should drop out the 9th best player in the draw moves into the seeds vacated position and is replaced by the next best entrant to the tournament (if there is one).

j. The next best entrant is the highest ranked player in the qualifying event not to qualify.

The Organiser may structure the draw as he sees fit, taking note of the following:

a. Byes are to be concentrated at the top and bottom of the draw and not distributed throughout it.

b. If the number of entries is not a power of two, the number of byes required is obtained by subtracting the number of entries from the next higher power of two. For example, if there are twenty-three entries, the next higher power is 32. The difference between 32 and 23 is nine so there will be nine byes.

c. If the number of byes is even, half are placed in the top of the draw and half in the bottom. If the number of byes is odd, one more is placed in the top of the draw than in the bottom half.

The decisions of the Organiser on draws, seedings and byes are final.

3. Dates, Time of Play, Length of Matches, Markers, Referees and Local Rules

a. Whenever possible, an interval should be allowed of one day between the semi-final and final stages of a major championship involving matches of the best of seven games.

b. On the direction of the Tournaments and Fixtures Sub Committee the Organiser is to state whether matches are to be the best of three, five or seven games.

c. Other than for the semi-finals and final a player may have his match time altered due to circumstances being beyond his (the player’s) control if:

i. He FIRST obtains the agreement of an official i.e. a steward.

ii. Having obtained the above agreement, he obtains his opponent’s agreement. If an alteration is agreed by an official and his opponent, the player is to ensure that all interested parties i.e. the marker, referee, a steward and the host club are informed.

d. In exceptional circumstances, the Organiser may agree to alter the match time of a semi-final or final provided both players agree.

e. A player who is late on court will be automatically scratched. A player is late if he arrives on court more than 20 minutes after the scheduled start time of the match or, if the previous match has run over time, 20 minutes after that match has finished. In a doubles match, if one or both players of a pair are late the pair is to be scratched. The responsibility for applying this rule will fall to a steward if available; if no steward is available, it will fall to the referee of the match. If the match has no appointed referee, the responsibility will fall to the marker.

f. All matches are to have a marker and for the semi-finals and final a referee. However the Organiser must make every effort to arrange referees for quarter-finals.

4. Making Appropriate Arrangements for the Finals

Arrangements are to be made:

a. For a prize-giver (the sponsors are to be consulted at an early stage).

b. For the correct cups to be presented.

c. For spaces to be reserved in the gallery for sponsors, relatives of players, markers, referees and VIPs.

5. Press Coverage

The T&RA Office should be forwarded relevant information and results on a daily basis for publication on the website. Over the weekend, the organiser should establish where to send result beforehand.

6. Miscellaneous Guidelines

a. There is no restriction on unofficial knock-ups. The match court is to be empty five minutes before the start of the official knock-up which will commence at the time scheduled for the start of the match. Where a match starts after its scheduled time, permission for an unofficial knock-up should be sought from the marker. If the marker grants permission an equal opportunity should be granted to both players/pairs.

b. Official Knock up: if the players knock up together a maximum of five minutes shall be permitted; if they knock up separately each player shall be permitted to knock up separately for a maximum of five minutes.

c. If one player/pair wants/want artificial lighting, his/their wish is to prevail.

d. A player injured during play is to continue as soon as he is able to do so. He is to concede or be awarded the match if he cannot continue in accordance with the protocol outlined under the Laws of Rackets paragraph 13.

 7. Conduct of Players

Players should conduct themselves, both on and off the Court, in a manner consistent with the etiquette, sportsmanship and exemplary standards of behaviour and dress expected of the sport. In particular, players should:

a. Abide by the laws and spirit of the game.

b. Accept the decisions of referees, markers and other officials without question or protest.

c. Exercise self-control at all times.

d. Treat their opponents and fellow participants with due respect at all times.

e. Accept success, failure, victory or defeat with good grace and without excessive display of emotion.

f. Not thwart their opponents unfairly.

g. Not behave in any way likely to bring the game into disrepute.

8. Disciplinary Procedures

a. In the event of any incident, either on or off the Court, which has in any way brought or might bring the game of Rackets into disrepute – in particular a serious breach of item ‘Conduct of Players’ of these Rules and Procedures – the Tournament Organiser or any other tournament official present at the tournament on the day the incident took place, should:

i. Report the breach or incident (hereafter called “the complaint”) to the Chief Executive as soon as possible. On receipt of the report the Chief Executive shall notify the player that he has been accused of a breach and on what grounds the accusation is made. The Chief Executive shall inform the accused player of the mechanics of the disciplinary procedures and invite a response from the player accused of a breach.

ii. Investigate the complaint and forward a detailed written report with statements from all the relevant witnesses to reach the Chief Executive by midday on the eighth day after the incident.

b. On receipt of the report, the Chief Executive shall forward it, together with his recommendations, to the Rackets Committee Chairman, who may decide to deal with the complaint himself or refer it to the Rackets Disciplinary Committee.

c. If the Rackets Committee Chairman decides to deal with it himself he may, if he finds the complaint justified, censure the respondent or, if as a result of interviewing the respondent he decides that the complaint is more serious than he had initially thought, he may refer it to the Rackets Disciplinary Committee.

d. A respondent found guilty and censured by the Rackets Committee Chairman may appeal against the finding and/or sentence to the Rackets Disciplinary Committee. He may not subsequently appeal to the Council Appeal Board.

e. A respondent found guilty and punished by the Rackets Disciplinary Committee, other than a respondent found guilty and punished as a result of an appeal to that Committee, may appeal to the Council Appeal Board against the finding and/or sentence. The Council Appeal Board is to be constituted of individuals who are not members of the Rackets Disciplinary Committee.

9. T&RA Reports

As soon as possible after the tournament, the Organiser is to send:

a. A full set of results for publication on the website to the Chief Executive and copied to the T&RA Office.

b. A tournament report for inclusion in the Annual Report accompanied where possible by photographs to the T&RA Office.

10. Finance

Sponsor’s money may be used for:

a. reducing entry fees.

b. prizes.

c. programmes, postage and promotional expenses.

d. entertainment.

e. travel expenses, subject in the case of amateurs to the T&RA’s regulations in respect of amateurs’ expenses in force at the time.