Categories
- Team Competition
- Doubles Competition
- Singles Competition
General Rules
The games will be governed by the international rules of the game, refer to link below
The International Table Tennis Federation Handbook
Local modifications to these rules are specified in the rest of this section
- Each team will have 2 players.
- Team composition can be mixed (male and female) or both male and both females. Only one division, open to all skill levels.
- No maximum number of teams per city. Each team or pair is fixed and cannot swap members between other pairs.
- A team will play five (5) matches (a challenge) against an opposing team. One (1) doubles match (both team members playing), 2 singles matches by each team member - all in all four (4) singles matches. Best-of-three games per match. A team/player wins a match by winning two games. Each of these matches has equal weight and will determine if the team won or lost.
For example if Team A lost the doubles match and one (1) singles match against Team B but Team A won the next three (3) singles matches, then Team A wins the challenge. All five (5) matches in the challenge MUST be played (so each individual player has played a total of 3 matches each – one doubles and 2 singles). There is no need to play a third game in a match when the first 2 games have been won by one team/player.- A challenge = 5 matches (1 doubles, 4 singles)
- A match = 3 games
- A game = 11 points
A team winning a challenge against one team will get one (1) point added to their win and a point added to the other team’s loss in the win-loss board.
For example:
Team A Win-1 Loss-0
Team B Win-0 Loss-1
- First game is always the doubles match, and then followed by the four (4) singles matches. Each team member will play against each member of the opposing team (four singles matches altogether) making a total of five (5) matches.
- Each match will have one (1) scorer/umpire (assigned by the committee – a player from a third/neutral team or an official from the committee) to help decide on disputed points. The umpire’s decision is final.
- In case of a tie in the standings after the round robins. ‘Win–over–the-other’ rule applies (which ever team won when the two played against each other in the recent round).
- All teams will play a single round robin in each pool (if ‘pool’ game is decided). Depending on the number of teams in the competition, if there is only one pool, the 1st versus 4th, 2nd versus 3rd, shall be played in the semifinals. Winners play for Championship, while Losers vie for Third Place
- If there are two pools, the top teams (team with the best win-loss slate) in each pool will play the finals and the team that came second in each pool will play for the 3rd and 4th place. If there are more than two (2) pools, the top team from each pool will play a single round robin. From this round robin, the top team will be declared champion, then second as runner up, etc. The committee will determine the size of each group.
- The win-loss results from singles matches in the team competition shall be tallied and if there is only one pool the Number 1 player will play against Number 4 player while the Number 2 player will play Number 3 player as the semi-final matches. Winners play for the singles championship while losers play for 3rd place.
If there are 2 pools the top players from both pools play for the championship while the Number 2 players from both pools play for 3rd place.
If there are more than 2 pools, the top singles from each pool play a single round robin to determine the final 1st, 2nd, and 3rd placings. - The win-loss results from doubles matches in the team competition shall be tallied and if there is only one pool the Number 1 doubles will play against Number 4 doubles while the Number 2 doubles will play against Number 3 doubles as the semi-final matches. Winners play for the championship while losers play for 3rd place.
If there are 2 pools the top doubles from both pools play for the championship while the Number 2 doubles play for 3rd place.
If there are more than 2 pools, the top doubles from each pool play a single round robin to determine the final 1st, 2nd, and 3rd placings.
Other Basic Rules
- Release the ball on your serve. Otherwise, a point will be awarded to the receiver after the first warning. A serve by a player is only considered when the paddle hits the ball. A point is charged against the server if valid serves touch the net the third time in a row.
- You are not allowed to put your hand or any part of your body on the table intentionally.
- Change serves every two points. Change ends every game. If the score is tied at 10, the first player/team to advance by two points wins the game. In this case, change serves every point.
- Warm up between players/teams – five balls at the beginning of the match only.
- A point will NOT be charged against the player/team that accidentally comes in contact with a ball that has undoubtedly gone out of bounce. A point will be charged against a player who hits the ball when it may yet bounce on the table. A server must ensure that the receiver is ready to receive by raising his/her hand to indicate that he/she is about to serve. For doubles matches, a server must serve diagonally from right to left. For singles matches, the server can serve to any side of the receiver. The umpire will decide on these points when players are in dispute.
- In case the game goes to 10-10, the winner will be the team/player who advances by two (2) points. However if team quotient system (after the ‘win-over-the-other’ rule was applied) is being applied to determine the winner after a tie, the score will be re-configured as 11-9.
Awards
The cumulative totals of game points earned by the teams will be used to determine the champion, 1st runner-up, and 2nd runner-up.
1st - 5 points
2nd - 3 points
3rd - 1 point
The winners will be awarded trophies and medals.
The Federation Table Tennis Shield will be awarded to the club, society or sporting group that garnered the most number of first-place finishes across all table tennis categories.
