8 Team Tournament Bracket

8 Team Tournament Bracket: how it works

An 8 team tournament bracket is the tidiest size there is. Eight is a power of two, so nobody needs a bye: four quarterfinals, two semifinals and a final, seven games in all. Type your teams in seed order or press Random draw, then print or tap winners through.

Who plays whom in round one

Down the sheet, round one is 1 v 8, 4 v 5, 3 v 6 and 2 v 7. Seeds 1 and 2 sit in opposite halves, so they cannot meet before the final, and if the higher seeds win, the semifinals are 1 v 4 and 2 v 3. Seeding from two pools of four? Alternate them, A1, B1, A2, B2 and so on, and all four quarterfinals are cross-pool.

Courts, time slots and the rest before the final

One court needs seven slots, two courts four. A third court saves nothing, because the fourth quarterfinal has to finish before the second semifinal can start; only four courts get it down to three. On one court the Game 5 winner rests through Game 6, whose winner walks straight into the final: put a break before Game 7.

Tips

• An 8 person tournament bracket for darts, pool or table tennis is this sheet with a player on each line. Give every winner a slot off and two boards need six slots, not four.
• Four of the eight go home after one game. Too harsh for a youth event? The 8 team double elimination bracket gives everyone two games, an 8 team round robin seven.
• For a draw the room can watch, spin the names on a wheel and type them in as drawn.

Questions and answers