Solving Tournament ProblemsLeague Format-Problems, Key

and Solutions
Direction for questions 1 to 5: Answer the questions based on the following information.
Eighteen teams have been invited to participate in the ABC Gold Cup cricket tournament.
The tournament is conducted in two stages. In the first stage, the teams are divided into two
groups. Each group consists of nine teams, with each team playing every other team in its
group exactly once. At the end of the first stage, the top four teams from each group advance
to the second stage while the rest are eliminated. The second stage comprises of several
rounds. A round involves one match for each team. The winner of a match in a round
advances to the next round, while the loser is eliminated. The team that remains undefeated in
the second stage is declared the winner and claims the Gold Cup.
The tournament rules are such that each match results in a winner and a loser with no
possibility of a tie. In the first stage, a team earns one point for each win and no points for a
loss. At the end of the first stage, teams in each group are ranked on the basis of total points
to determine the qualifiers advancing to the next stage. Ties are resolved by a series of
complex tie-breaking rules so that exactly four teams from each group advance to the next
stage.
1. What is the total number of matches played in the tournament?
a. 56
b. 63
c. 79
d. 83
2. The minimum number of wins needed for a team in the first stage to guarantee its
advancement to the next stage is
a. 7
b. 6
c. 5
d. 4
3. What is the highest number of wins for a team in the first stage in spite of which it would
be eliminated at the end of first stage?
a. 1
b. 2
c. 3
d. 4
4. What is the number of rounds in the second stage of the tournament?
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a. 1
b. 2
c. 3
d. 4
5. Which of the following statements is true?
a. The winner will have more wins than any other team in the tournament.
b. At the end of the first stage, no team eliminated from the tournament will have more wins
than any of the teams qualifying for the second stage.
c. It is possible that the winner will have the same number of wins in the entire tournament as
a team eliminated at the end of the first stage.
d. The number of teams with exactly one win in the second stage of the tournament is 4.

DIRECTIONS for Questions 6 to 8: Answer the questions on the basis of the information
given below. The year was 2006. All six teams in Pool A of World Cup hockey, play each
other exactly once. Each win earns a team three points, a draw earns one point and a loss
earns zero points. The two teams with the highest points qualify for the semi-finals. In case of
a tie, the team with the highest goal difference (Goal For-Goals Against) qualifies.
In the opening match, Spain lost to Germany. After the second round (after each team played
two matches), the pool table looked as shown below.

In the third round, Spain played Pakistan, Argentina played Germany, and New Zealand
played South Africa. All the third round matches were drawn. The following are some results
from the fourth and fifth round matches.
(a) Spain won both the fourth and fifth round matches.
(b) Both Argentina and Germany won their fifth round matches by 3 goals to 0.
(c) Pakistan won both the fourth and fifth round matches by 1 goal to 0.

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6. Which one of the following statements is true about matches played in the first two
rounds?
(1) Pakistan beat South Africa by 2 goals to 1.
(2) Argentina beat Pakistan by 1 goal to 0.
(3) Germany beat Pakistan by 2 goals to 1.
(4) Germany beat Spain by 2 goals to 1.
7. Which one of the following statements is true about matches played in the first two
rounds?
(1) Germany beat New Zealand by 1 goal to 0.
(2) Spain beat New Zealand by 4 goals to 0.
(3) Spain beat South Africa by 2 goals to 0.
(4) Germany beat South Africa by 2 goals to 1.
8. Which team finished at the top of the pool after five rounds of matches?
(1) Argentina
(2) Germany
(3) Spain
(4) Cannot be determined

Directions for Questions 9 to 12: Answer the following questions based on the information
given below: In a sports event, six teams (A, B, C, D, E and F) are competing against each
other. Matches are scheduled in two stages. Each team plays three matches in Stage-I and two
matches in Stage-II. No team plays against the same team more than once in the event. No
ties are permitted in any of the matches. The observations after the completion of Stage-I and
Stage-II are as given below.
Stage-I:
One team won all the three matches.
Two teams lost all the matches.
D lost to A but won against C and F.
E lost to B but won against C and F.
B lost at least one match.
F did not play against the top team of Stage-I.
The leader of Stage-I lost the next two matches.
Of the two teams at the bottom after Stage-I, one team won both matches, while the other lost
both matches.
One more team lost both matches in Stage-II.
9. The team(s) with the most wins in the event is (are):

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(1) A
(2) A & C
(3) F
(4) E
(5) B & E
10. The two teams that defeated the leader of Stage-I are:
(1) F & D
(2) E & F
(3) B & D
(4) E & D
(5) F & D
11. The only team(s) that won both the matches in Stage-II is (are):
(1) B
(2) E & F
(3) A, E & F
(4) B, E & F
(5) B & F
12. The teams that won exactly two matches in the event are:
(1) A, D & F
(2) D & E
(3) E & F
(4) D, E & F
(5) D & F

Key
1) c

2) a

3) b

4) c

5) c

6) 2

7) 4

8) 3

9) 5

10) 2

11) 4

12) 5

Hints and Solutions

1) What is the total number of matches played in the tournament?
There are 18 teams in the tournament, divided in two groups of nine teams each
In each group each team will play 8 matches
Total number of matches played in each group = 8+7+6++1 = 36
Total number of matches played for both groups together = 36+36=72
4 teams from each group qualify for next Stage
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 8 teams qualify for second Stage

In 1st round of Second stage each team plays only one match
4 teams play against other 4 teams
Total number of matches in 1st round = 4
Since the losing teams get eliminated
4 losing teams got eliminated in 1st Round
4 winning teams went to 2nd Round
In 2nd round each team plays only one match
2 teams play against other 2 teams
Total number of matches in 2nd round = 2
Since the losing teams get eliminated
2 losing teams got eliminated in 2nd Round
2 winning teams went to 3rd Round
Last two teams play in 3rd round
Total number of matches in 3rd round = 1
Total Number of matches = Matches in group stage + matches in 1st, 2nd, 3rd rounds
of stage 2
Total Number of matches = 72 + 4 + 2 + 1 = 79 (Choice c)
2) The minimum number of wins needed for a team in the first stage to guarantee its
advancement to the next stage is?
The above question is same as asking that what is the number of wins that would
guarantee a place in second round or in another words what is the maximum number
of wins which would not guarantee a place in next round because you need to win
more than that number to guarantee a place in second round
From solution to Q1 we know that total number of matches to be played for each
group = 36
We also know that a team is awarded one point for a win zero for a loss and there are
no ties
Number of points at stake for each match = 1
Total number of points at stake in a group = 36
Now if we want to see that what is the maximum number of points which a team can get and
still not qualify for the next round then we need to maximise the points of team at 5th place

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For maximising the points of team at 5th place we need to minimise the points of teams below
it, i.e. teams placed 6th, 7th, 8th and 9th.
For minimising their points we need to make sure that they lose all their matches against all
the teams placed above them and the only points they get are from matches played against
each other.
Total matches among teams placed 6th, 7th, 8th and 9th = 3+2+1=6
Total points among teams placed 6th, 7th, 8th and 9th =6
Remaining points to be distributed among top 5 teams = 36-6 = 30
Now we want to minimise the points of teams above the team ranked 5th and also at the same
time we want to keep those teams above team ranked 5th in the table. So the best way to
achieve that is to give all the top 5 teams same number of points.
We give 30/5=6 points to each of the top 5 teams
A team with 6 wins can end up not qualifying by staying at 5th position.
Team needs at least 6+1=7 wins to make sure it qualifies to next round. (Choice
a)

3) What is the highest number of wins for a team in the first stage in spite of which it
would be eliminated at the end of first stage?
Above question is same as asking that what is the maximum number of wins which
will not be sufficient for a team to qualify for the next stage no matter what happens.
This shall be solvable if we calculate what is the minimum number of wins with
which a team can qualify, because then our answer will be one less than that
For calculating the minimum number of wins with which a team can qualify we need
to minimise the points of team placed 4th in the group.
For minimising the points of the team placed 4th. We need to maximise the points of
teams above and below it.
There are three teams above team ranked 4th, to maximise their points we need to
make sure that they win against all the teams ranked below them and lose matches
only against each other.
Each of top 3 teams wins all 6 matches against teams from 4th to 9th
Top 3 teams have 6X3=18 wins among them.
Top 3 teams play 2+1=3 matches against each other
They have 18+3=21 points distributed among each other.
Remaining points = 36-21 = 15 points

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Now once we have maximised the points of teams placed above team ranked 4th we
need to maximise the points of teams below ranked team ranked 4th, the best way is to
distribute the points equally
Teams ranked from 4th to 9th get 15/6=2.5 points each
A team will not qualify for next round if it has less than 2.5 points, because that is
minimum required for qualifying to next round.
Team with 2 wins can never qualify however team with 3 wins can qualify
Maximum number of wins in spite of which the team will not qualify for next
round is 2(Choice b)
4) What is the number of rounds in the second stage of the tournament?
From Solution of Q1 we can say that its 3 (Choice c)
5) Which of the following statements is true?
a. The winner will have more wins than any other team in the tournament.
b. At the end of the first stage, no team eliminated from the tournament will have
more wins than any of the teams qualifying for the second stage.
c. It is possible that the winner will have the same number of wins in the entire
tournament as a team eliminated at the end of the first stage.
d. The number of teams with exactly one win in the second stage of the tournament is
Based on our observations from answer to first 4 questions correct answer is (Choice
c)
6) Which one of the following statements is true about matches played in the first two
rounds?
(1) Pakistan beat South Africa by 2 goals to 1.
(2) Argentina beat Pakistan by 1 goal to 0.
(3) Germany beat Pakistan by 2 goals to 1.
(4) Germany beat Spain by 2 goals to 1.
Team
Germany
Argentina
Spain
Pakistan
Newzealand
South
Africa

Played
2
2
2
2
2
2

Won
2
2
1
1
0
0

Draw
0
0
0
0
0
0

Lost
0
0
1
1
2
2

GF
3
2
5
2
1
1

GA
1
0
2
1
6
4

Points
6
6
3
3
0
0

Lets analyse the teams 1 by 1

1) Germany: Has played 2 and won 2 and it has goal difference of 3-1=+2. But since

it has won both the matches it will have -a positive goal difference in both the
matches.
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 It has won both the matches by difference of 1 goal

Scores of Germanys matches is 1-0 and 2-1,
Lets put it in the table
Team
Germany
Argentina
Spain
Pakistan
Newzealand
South Africa

Match1
Goals For
Goals
Against
2
1

Match 2
Goals For
Goals
Against
1
0

In the same way we can conclude for Argentina too

It has won both the matches
Scores of Argentinas matches are 1-0 and 1-0
Populating the table for Argentina
Team
Germany
Argentina
Spain
Pakistan
Newzealand
South Africa

Match1
Goals For
Goals
Against
2
1
1
0

Match 2
Goals For
Goals
Against
1
0
1
0

Spain has 5 goals for it and 2 against it. But since it lost the match to Germany score of one
of its match is 1-2 or 0-1 correspondingly Score of its other match is 4-0 or 5-1. Updating the
table we get

Team
Germany
Argentina
Spain
Pakistan
Newzealand
South Africa

Match1
Goals For
Goals
Against
2
1
1
0
1 or 0
2 or 1

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Match 2
Goals For
Goals
Against
1
0
1
0
4 or 5
0 or 1

Pakistan has 2 goals for and 1 against it, but since it has lost a match therefore it has
conceded a goal in that match only that means scores for Pakistans matches are 2-0 and 0-1.
Updating the table we get
Team
Germany
Argentina
Spain
Pakistan
Newzealand
South Africa

Match1
Goals For
Goals
Against
2
1
1
0
1 or 0
2 or 1
2
0

Match 2
Goals For
Goals
Against
1
0
1
0
4 or 5
0 or 1
0
1

Newzealand has 6 goals against it therefore one of the contributors to it has to be Spain.
Therefor Newzealand lost either 4-0 or 5-1 to Spain. Lets analyse both the cases
Case 1: If Newzealand lost 0-4 to Spain then the score of other match will be 1-2, but if the
score of other match is 1-2 then that means there exists a team which has won 2-1 which is
Germany only, therefore Spain lost the match against Germany by 0-1, hence the table would
look like

Team
Goals For
Germany
Argentina
Spain
Pakistan
Newzealand
South Africa

2
1
0
2
0

Match1
Goals
Against
1
0
1
0
4

Match 2
Goals For
Goals
Against
1
0
1
0
5
1
0
1
1
2

But then we have eliminated the Spains 4-0 win against Newzealand hence the above table is
wrong.

Case 2.: If Newzealand lost 1-5 then the score of other match is 0-1 which is possible since
we have three instances of a team winning 1-0, hence case 2 is the correct assumption, it also
solves our confusion regarding Spains victory which now stands at 5-1 so other match
automatically becomes 0-1, hence the table looks like
Team
Goals For

Match1
Goals

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Match 2
Goals For
Goals

Germany
Argentina
Spain
Pakistan
Newzealand
South Africa
We also know about the results

2
1
0
2
1

Against
1
0
1
0
5

1
1
5
0
0

Against
0
0
1
1
1

1) Germany Beat Spain By 1-0

2) Spain beat Newzealand by 1-0
Now going back to Germany 2-1 win, we see that till now no loser corresponding to it,
therefore it has to be South Africa who lost to Germany 1-2, hence the score of other South
Africa Match automatically becomes 0-2. Therefore the table now looks like

Team
Goals For
Germany
Argentina
Spain
Pakistan
Newzealand
South Africa

2
1
0
2
1
1

Match1
Goals
Against
1
0
1
0
5
2

Match 2
Goals For
Goals
Against
1
0
1
0
5
1
0
1
0
1
0
2

So now we can compile the results as follows

Germany Beat Spain 1-0
Germany Beat South Africa 2-1
Spain Beat Newzealand 5-1
Pakistan beat South Africa 2-0
We see that only remaining matches are for Argentina, which it won 1 0
Going by the table
Argentina beat Pakistan 1-0
Argentina Beat Newzealand 1-0
Hence Choice 2 is the only choice which is matching the results.
7) Which one of the following statements is true about matches played in the first two
rounds?
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(1) Germany beat New Zealand by 1 goal to 0.

(2) Spain beat New Zealand by 4 goals to 0.
(3) Spain beat South Africa by 2 goals to 0.
(4) Germany beat South Africa by 2 goals to 1.
By the solution of Q6
Choice 4 is the correct answer
8) Which team finished at the top of the pool after five rounds of matches?
(1) Argentina
(2) Germany
(3) Spain
(4) Cannot be determined
Given:
In the third round, Spain played Pakistan, Argentina played Germany, and New Zealand
played South Africa. All the third round matches were drawn. The following are some results
from the fourth and fifth round matches.
(a) Spain won both the fourth and fifth round matches.
(b) Both Argentina and Germany won their fifth round matches by 3 goals to 0.
(c) Pakistan won both the fourth and fifth round matches by 1 goal to 0.
Lets try to calculate the points and Goal Difference for each team at the end of all the
matches

A) Spain: 3 points after first two matches(Table), 1 point in 3rd match(Draw) and 6
points in last two matches(won).
Total points of Spain =10
For goal difference 5-2=+3 after two matches, which remains same after 3 matches
since 3rd match was a draw. Since it won both 4th and 5th matches goal difference will
increase by minimum of 2
Goal difference of Spain= +3 + (2 or more than 2)= +5 or more than +5.
Lets update the table with this information
Team
Spain

Total Point
10

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Goal Difference
+5

B) Pakistan: 3 points after first two matches(Table), 1 point in 3rd match(Draw) and 6
points in last two matches(won).
Total points of Pakistan =10
For Goal Difference 2-1=+1 after two matches which remains same after the 3rd
match(Draw) and goes up by +2 after last two matches(1-0 victories in both
matches)
Goal Difference of Pakistan= +3.
Therefore updating the table
Team
Spain
Pakistan

Total Point
10
10

Goal Difference
+5
+3

C) Germany: Germany had pending matches against Newzealand and Pakistan after
third round (refer solution to Q6), but since Pakistan won both 4th and 5th round
matches, Germany Lost to Pakistan, but Germany won against Newzealand by 30.
Total Points of Germany= 6 + 1(3rd Round Draw) + 0(Fourth Round Loss) +
3(Last round win)=10 points
Goal Difference= +2 After first two rounds remains + 2 after third round since
third round was a draw, drops to +1 on losing to Pakistan by 0 goals to 1 and then
goes to +4 on winning last match by 3 goals to 0
Hence Updating the table
Team
Spain
Pakistan
Germany

Total Point
10
10
10

Goal Difference
+5
+3
+4

D) Argentina: Argentina had pending matches with South Africa and Spain, it lost
against Spain since Spain won its remaining matches but won against South
Africa.
Points of Argentina = 6 + 1 + 0 + 3=10

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Argentinas goal difference was + 2 after first two rounds, remains same after third
round drops by atleast 1 in 4th round after loss to Spain but goes up by +3 in last
round.
Argentinas goal difference= +2 + 0 (1 or more than 1 ) +3
Argentinas goal difference +4
Hence updating the table
Team
Spain
Pakistan
Germany
Argentina

Total Point
10
10
10
10

Goal Difference
+5
+3
+4
+4

Its clear that both Newzealand and South Africa lost most of their matches so they will not be
finishing on top of the pool, hence its clear that Spain finished at top of the pool because it
has got the best goal difference among the four tied teams.(Choice 3)

9) The team(s) with the most wins in the event is (are)?

Lets go stage by stage to solve this problem
Stage I
Given:
One team won all the three matches.
Two teams lost all the matches.
D lost to A but won against C and F.
E lost to B but won against C and F.
B lost at least one match.
F did not play against the top team of Stage-I.
From the above Data we can easily fill the below table for team D and E
Team
A
B
C
D
E
F

Played
3
3
3
3
3
3

Won

Lost

2(C,F)
2(C,F)

1(A)
1(B)

From this data we see that D,E , C,F lost one or more than one match, also its given
that B lost at least one match therefore only team which can win all three matches is
A.
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Also we see that A did not play against E from the table and A did not play against F,
since for F it is given that it did not play against the top team of Stage-I
Therefore 3 matches A played were against B,C and D, hence updating the table
Team
Played
Won
Lost
A
3
3(B,C,D)
0
B
3
C
3
D
3
2(C,F)
1(A)
E
3
2(C,F)
1(B)
F
3
It again becomes clear from the table that C lost all its matches i.e. against A,D,E.
Hence we can update the table for C
Team
A
B
C
D
E
F

Played
3
3
3
3
3
3

Won
3(B,C,D)

Lost
0

0
2(C,F)
2(C,F)

3(A,D,E)
1(A)
1(B)

We know that Two teams lost all the matches, one of them is C the other one has to be
F since B already won against E. also from the table we see that F did not play against
A or C, hence it lost its matches against B, D and E. So now completing the table
Team
A
B
C
D
E
F

Played
3
3
3
3
3
3

Won
3(B,C,D)
2(E,F)
0
2(C,F)
2(C,F)
0

Lost
0
1(A)
3(A,D,E)
1(A)
1(B)
3(B,D,E)

Now let us move on to Stage II

Given
The leader of Stage-I lost the next two matches.
Of the two teams at the bottom after Stage-I, one team won both matches, while the
other lost both matches.
One more team lost both matches in Stage-II.
Since the leader of stage I was A its lost its both the matches against E and F.
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The two teams at the bottom of the group after stage I were C and F hence one of
them won both the matches while other lost both the matches, F cannot be losing both
the matches since it won against A, hence C lost both its matches.
With this information table looks like as follows
Team
A
B
C
D
E
F

Played
5
3
5
3
3
5

Won
3(B,C,D)
2(E,F)
0
2(C,F)
2(C,F)
2(A,C)

Lost
2(E,F)
1(A)
5(A,D,E,B,F)
1(A)
1(B)
3(B,D,E)

We know that one among B,D,E lost both the matches of stage II other than A and C,
but we realize that E won against A and B won against C so the other team to lose
both the matches is D. Hence finally our table will look like
Team
A
B
C
D
E
F

Played
5
5
5
5
4
5

Won
3(B,C,D)
4(C,DE,F)
0
2(C,F)
4(C,F,A,D)
2(A,C)

Lost
2(E,F)
1(A)
5(A,D,E,B,F)
3(A,B,E)
1(B)
3(B,D,E)

Hence Teams with most wins in the tournament are B and E Choice 5
10) The two teams that defeated the leader of Stage-I are:
From above table those teams are E and F Choice 2
11) The only team(s) that won both the matches in Stage-II is (are):
From the above table we can see that they are B, E and F Choice 4
12) The teams that won exactly two matches in the event are:
From the above table they are D and F Choice 5

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