Round Robin Format
What does Round Robin mean? How is the winner decided?
Round Robin Format
Applies to: Event organisers · Bracket managers
Round Robin is a tournament format where every athlete competes against every other athlete in the pool exactly once. It maximises match experience, produces fair rankings, and is ideal for small groups where a single-elimination bracket would leave too many athletes with only one match.
How scheduling works
Hajime schedules round robin pools using the circle method: athletes are arranged in a circle and rotated each round so that matchups are perfectly balanced. Each round has as many simultaneous matches as the pool size allows, and no athlete ever competes twice in the same round.
For example, a 5-athlete pool produces 10 matches across 5 rounds. Bye rounds are inserted automatically when the pool size is odd.
How points work
Each match awards points to both competitors based on the result:
| Result | Default points |
|---|---|
| Win | 3 |
| Draw | 1 |
| Loss | 0 |
These defaults are fully configurable per speciality. You can set Win Points, Draw Points, and Loss Points to any value from 0 to 10.
Allow Draws controls whether a match can end without a clear winner. When disabled, judges must determine a winner before the match is recorded.
How rankings are determined
Athletes are ranked by their total accumulated points across all matches. The athlete with the most points wins the pool.
When two or more athletes finish with the same number of points, tiebreakers are applied in the order you configure them.
Tiebreakers explained
Tiebreakers are applied one at a time, in the order you specify. If the first tiebreaker still produces a tie, the second is applied, and so on.
The standings table shows, next to each athlete, a short note explaining how their rank was decided against the athletes immediately above and below them: for example, which tiebreaker separated them, or that they remain fully tied. This is available on both the organiser bracket view and the public event page, so spectators can see exactly why an athlete placed where they did without having to work out the tiebreaker order by hand.
Head-to-Head
Compares the direct match result between the tied athletes. The athlete who won their head-to-head encounter is ranked higher. If the tied athletes also drew against each other, or there are more than two athletes tied, this tiebreaker does not resolve the tie and the next one is applied.
Best used as: First tiebreaker: the most intuitive one for athletes and coaches.
Point Differential
Calculates each athlete's total points scored minus total points conceded across all pool matches. The athlete with the highest differential is ranked higher.
Best used as: Second tiebreaker, rewarding consistent scoring without penalising a single big loss.
Most Points Scored
Ranks by the total number of points scored across all matches, regardless of conceded points. The athlete who scored the most in absolute terms is ranked higher.
Best used as: Third tiebreaker, for when differentials are also equal.
Most Wins
Ranks by the number of match victories. The athlete with the most wins is ranked higher.
Best used as: Alternative first tiebreaker for formats where draws are disallowed, or as a final fallback.
Configuration reference
| Setting | What it controls | Default |
|---|---|---|
| Win Points | Points for a match win | 3 |
| Draw Points | Points for a draw | 1 |
| Loss Points | Points for a loss | 0 |
| Allow Draws | Whether draws are permitted | Enabled |
| Tiebreakers | Ordered list of tiebreaker rules | Head-to-Head, Point Differential, Most Points Scored |
| Finals Phase | Add a knockout finals after the pool | Disabled |
| Finals Mode | Top 2 (gold only) or Top 4 (semis + gold) | Top 2 |
| Bronze Match | Include a 3rd/4th place match | Disabled |
Quick setup walkthrough
- Open your event and go to Specialities.
- Click Add Speciality and fill in the name, weight, and gender category.
- Set Bracket Type to Round Robin.
- Under Format Configuration, adjust point values if your federation uses different scoring.
-
Configure Tiebreakers: the default order (Head-to-Head → Point Differential → Most Points Scored) suits most combat sports. Click the
×on any chip to remove it, or click an available tiebreaker to add it. - Optionally enable Finals Phase to add a knockout round for the top 2 or 4 athletes.
- Save the speciality and proceed to register athletes.
- Once all athletes are registered, open the bracket and click Generate: Hajime will schedule all matches automatically.