Tournament bracket generator: make a single elimination bracket

Build a single elimination bracket for a ping pong tournament (or any other game) in seconds. This tournament bracket generator lays out the knockout rounds, hands out the byes, lets you click the winners and prints the bracket for the club wall.

How to use the bracket generator

1. Enter one player per line, anywhere from 2 to 64 names.
2. Choose the order. Seeded keeps your list order: the first name is seed 1. Random draw shuffles the names before building the bracket.
3. Click Create bracket. Byes are filled in automatically.
4. After each match, click the winner's name. They move on to the next round. Clicked the wrong one? Click the other name, or the same name again to clear it.
5. Use Print to get the bracket on paper or save it as a PDF.

The bracket is saved on your device, so you can close the page and come back later with the results still there.

Brackets for 5, 6, 10 or 12 players: byes

A single elimination bracket needs 2, 4, 8, 16, 32 or 64 slots, because every round cuts the field in half. With any other number, the bracket grows to the next power of 2 and the spare slots become byes: the player who draws a bye goes straight into round 2.

The number of matches is always the number of players minus 1: each match knocks out exactly one player, and only the champion never loses.

Seeded bracket or random draw?

In seeded mode the generator uses the classic layout: in a bracket of 8, round 1 is 1 v 8, 4 v 5, 2 v 7 and 3 v 6. That way the top two can only meet in the final and the top four only in the semifinals, if everyone keeps winning. Byes go to the top seeds, which is the usual tournament practice.

Seed the bracket when you know roughly how good everyone is, for example from a club ladder or ratings. In official events only seeds 1 and 2 have fixed spots, at the top and bottom of the draw, and the next seeds are drawn by lot into the positions reserved for them. For a tournament among friends, the generator's fixed order does the job.

A random draw is better when nobody knows who is stronger, or when everyone is a beginner. It uses your browser's random number generator, so no one can predict the bracket.

Tips for running a ping pong knockout

• Pick the format first: best of 3 games in the early rounds and best of 5 from the semifinals usually fits in an afternoon. See how many games are in a match.
• Budget the time: a best of 3 between casual players usually takes 10 to 20 minutes, so work out how many tables you need.
• Think about early losers: in a knockout, half the field plays only once. If you want everyone to play a lot, run groups with the round robin generator first and send the top finishers into the bracket.
• Third place match: the generator does not add one, but you can simply have the two losing semifinalists play.
• Keep score: for each match, the online ping pong scoreboard tracks the serve and closes out games for you.

The formats used in real competitions, like groups followed by a knockout, are covered in table tennis tournament formats.

Frequently asked questions