TourBracketFree Tournament Bracket Generator

16 Team Single Elimination Bracket

Sixteen fills the bracket exactly, so there are no byes and every team plays in the opening round. Four rounds take the field from sixteen to a champion in fifteen matches, and the shape is symmetrical the whole way down.

This is the largest bracket that still runs comfortably in a single day on limited courts or tables. On two stations the round of 16 alone is eight matches, so the opening round is the part of the schedule worth planning around.

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How the draw is structured

16

Entrants

16

Matches played

5

Rounds

0

Byes

Round by round

RoundMatchesEntrants left after it
Round of 1688
Quarter-Finals44
Semi-Finals22
Grand Final11
3rd Place11

Opening round by seed

Seeds are paired so the strongest and weakest meet first, which keeps the top seeds in opposite halves of the draw. This is the order the board is drawn in, top to bottom.

How long it takes

Rounds run one after another, because a round cannot start until the one feeding it has finished. Matches inside a round can all run at once, so the number of courts you have decides the day more than the number of entrants does.

Courts10 min matches20 min matches30 min matches
12h 40m5h 20m8h
21h 30m3h4h 30m
41h2h3h

Playing time only. Add changeovers, warm-ups and the gap between rounds.

Questions

How many rounds are in a 16 team bracket?
Four: the round of 16, the quarter-finals, the semi-finals and the final. Fifteen matches in total.
How do you seed a 16 team bracket?
Seeds are paired so the strongest and weakest meet first and the top seeds are spread as far apart as possible: 1 plays 16, 8 plays 9, 4 plays 13, and so on. Seeds 1 and 2 can only meet in the final.

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