How to Run a 9 Team Single Elimination Tournament
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How Does a 9 Team Single Elimination Tournament Work?
9 team single elimination (or knockout) tournament consists of 4 rounds and has 7 games in total.
Bracket Size
Bracket size is calculated as the next power of 2 number after the number of teams/players. In case of 9 participants, it’s 16.
Byes
Byes would be the difference between 16 and 9 — so, there are 7 byes in this tournament.
Rounds & Games
There are 4 rounds and 8 real (without byes) games in the 9 team single elimination tournament bracket:
- Round of 16: 1 real game, the rest are byes
- Quarter-Finals (or “Round of 8”): 4 games, 8 players
- Semi-Final: 2 games, 4 players
- Final: 1 game for 2 players
Seeding
Choose one of the 3 options:
- seeded (most common): top participants meets later in the tournament
- blind draw (or random): no seeding, the players are randomized for the 1st round
- manual seeding: players are paired in the order entered
Comparing to other Tournament Formats
As any elimination tournament, a 9 teams it is much faster and has less games than other tournament formats of the same size:
| Format | Total games | Games per team | Rounds | Fairness | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Round Robin | 36 | 8 | 9 | Everyone plays everyone | Best for leagues |
| Single Elimination | 8 | 1–3 | 3 | Harsh cutoff | Best for quick events |
| Double Elimination | 17 | 2–6 | ~6 | More forgiving | Popular in esports |
| Double Elimination with Consolation | ~12 | min 2 | ~5 (3+2) | Fairer, every team plays twice | Youth sports |
| Swiss System | 12 | 3 | 3 | Balanced, flexible | Chess, card games |
Printable 9 Team Single Elimination Bracket
Need a paper copy of the tournament schedule or bracket? We support printing for both!
