A comparison of tournament systems for the men’s World Handball Championship

The men’s Handball World Championship commences with eight round robin groups of four teams before the “main round” of four groups of six teams. These groups of six each include the top three teams from pairs of initial groups. The tournament draw uses pots of eight which risks two teams in the top...

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Main Authors: Donoghue Peter O’, Kristjánsdóttir Hafrún, Halldórsson Kristján, Þorgeirsson Sveinn
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Sciendo 2023-08-01
Series:International Journal of Computer Science in Sport
Subjects:
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.2478/ijcss-2023-0011
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author Donoghue Peter O’
Kristjánsdóttir Hafrún
Halldórsson Kristján
Þorgeirsson Sveinn
author_facet Donoghue Peter O’
Kristjánsdóttir Hafrún
Halldórsson Kristján
Þorgeirsson Sveinn
author_sort Donoghue Peter O’
collection DOAJ
description The men’s Handball World Championship commences with eight round robin groups of four teams before the “main round” of four groups of six teams. These groups of six each include the top three teams from pairs of initial groups. The tournament draw uses pots of eight which risks two teams in the top four appearing in the same group of the main round. A further issue is that teams finishing between third and sixth in the main round groups are awarded tournament places between ninth and 24th without any further matches. Therefore, the purpose of this investigation was to compare the current tournament system with alternatives using pots of four teams in the draw, and / or adding a knockout stage to place teams from ninth to 24th. These four tournament systems were simulated 100,000 times, using underlying regression models for the goals scored based on their World ranking points. Introducing pots of four increased the chance of reaching the quarter-finals for teams ranked one to four and nine to 12 by 1.3% and 1.6% respectively. It is recommended that the draw uses pots of four teams associated with pairs of initial groups that lead to common main draw groups.
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publishDate 2023-08-01
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series International Journal of Computer Science in Sport
spelling doaj-art-4131b637835f4e999236c9b194e54e032025-08-20T03:06:25ZengSciendoInternational Journal of Computer Science in Sport1684-47692023-08-01222627610.2478/ijcss-2023-0011A comparison of tournament systems for the men’s World Handball ChampionshipDonoghue Peter O’0Kristjánsdóttir Hafrún1Halldórsson Kristján2Þorgeirsson Sveinn3Physical Activity, Physical Education, Health and Sport Research Centre, Reykjavik University, Menntavegi 1, 102, Reykjavik, IcelandPhysical Activity, Physical Education, Health and Sport Research Centre, Reykjavik University, Menntavegi 1, 102, Reykjavik, IcelandPhysical Activity, Physical Education, Health and Sport Research Centre, Reykjavik University, Menntavegi 1, 102, Reykjavik, IcelandPhysical Activity, Physical Education, Health and Sport Research Centre, Reykjavik University, Menntavegi 1, 102, Reykjavik, IcelandThe men’s Handball World Championship commences with eight round robin groups of four teams before the “main round” of four groups of six teams. These groups of six each include the top three teams from pairs of initial groups. The tournament draw uses pots of eight which risks two teams in the top four appearing in the same group of the main round. A further issue is that teams finishing between third and sixth in the main round groups are awarded tournament places between ninth and 24th without any further matches. Therefore, the purpose of this investigation was to compare the current tournament system with alternatives using pots of four teams in the draw, and / or adding a knockout stage to place teams from ninth to 24th. These four tournament systems were simulated 100,000 times, using underlying regression models for the goals scored based on their World ranking points. Introducing pots of four increased the chance of reaching the quarter-finals for teams ranked one to four and nine to 12 by 1.3% and 1.6% respectively. It is recommended that the draw uses pots of four teams associated with pairs of initial groups that lead to common main draw groups.https://doi.org/10.2478/ijcss-2023-0011predictive modellingsimulationtournament designteam handball
spellingShingle Donoghue Peter O’
Kristjánsdóttir Hafrún
Halldórsson Kristján
Þorgeirsson Sveinn
A comparison of tournament systems for the men’s World Handball Championship
International Journal of Computer Science in Sport
predictive modelling
simulation
tournament design
team handball
title A comparison of tournament systems for the men’s World Handball Championship
title_full A comparison of tournament systems for the men’s World Handball Championship
title_fullStr A comparison of tournament systems for the men’s World Handball Championship
title_full_unstemmed A comparison of tournament systems for the men’s World Handball Championship
title_short A comparison of tournament systems for the men’s World Handball Championship
title_sort comparison of tournament systems for the men s world handball championship
topic predictive modelling
simulation
tournament design
team handball
url https://doi.org/10.2478/ijcss-2023-0011
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