Single versus double elimination

[jjaje]

What do you prefer in tournaments regarding sparring, single or double elimination.

We were at a tournament today, and in many tournaments, probably because of time and taxing volunteers, they use single elimination during sparring.

What this means is one loss, and you were out. In double elimination, you lose twice to two different people before being out.

What happened is one kid (named A) spars a kid (B) - loses to B and B eventually goes on to get the 1st place trophy. It is highly possible that child A could have beaten the kids who got 2nd and 3rd place, but never got the opportunity.

For those of you who prefer tournaments, do you have a preference or feeling on how this should be done and handled?

[black-gi]

I have never done a double elimination tournament but if I were running it I would do single so the divisions dont take so long. If I was fighting I would rather double so you get your money's worth.




Jason Bryant

[tkdcanada]

I hate single elimination but that's how they all seem to be. it's not so bad if you get two rounds (ex: 2 min round, 30 sec break, 2 min round), but alot that I've done have been only one round and it's over way too quickly.

[Pittbull]

I have competed in both styles of tournaments and I like the double elimination style the best because it gives you a second chance to prove your skill

[Benson]

I fought in a double elimination sparring only tournament.

There were only two people in my division and we had to fight each other twice. Luckily we didn't have to fight each other 3 times.

It was essentially best 2 out of 3.

[jvkt]

While I can see the benifits of a double elimination format, I couldnt image having double eliminations in large touraments. Most TKD tournaments that I attend on a state level have anywhere from 200-500 people. After Forms competition, it takes about 4-6 hours to get though sparring using a single elimination format. It would take almost twice as long in a double elimination format. Junior Nationals would be a nightmare with the amount of competitors it has. It already takes 5 days as it is.