Hello,
In 40(43) – 32(43), do the numbers in parentheses represent the number of innings for each player?
Yes
Can those numbers differ between the two players?
No
Can an individual match end in a draw? If so, does each team receive 1 match point, compared with 2 for a win and 0 for a loss?
Yes
Are individual matches played to a target score, an innings limit, or both?
Both
E.g:
FC Porto 6 - 2 SL Benfica:
• Jogo 1: Jorge Costa 40(37) - 30(37) António Lameirão → Jorge Costa won 40-30 in 37 innings. Average: 40/37 = 1.081
• Jogo 2: Luis Pinto 40(50) - 32(50) António Correia → Luis Pinto won 40-32 in 50 innings.
• Jogo 3: Fernando Cunha 31(50) - 27(50) Joaquim Mendes → Nobody reached 40. They hit the innings limit of 50 innings, so the player with more points wins. Fernando Cunha won 31-27.
• Jogo 4: Gonçalo Santos 31(42) - 40(42) Vítor Pinto → Vítor Pinto won 40-31 in 42 innings.
Is an equalizing inning allowed for the player who played second?
Yes
E.g: Player 1 scores 40 on his turn. Player 2 has the right to an equalizing inning - he plays with the starting ball. If he also scores 40 in that same inning, it’s 40(37) - 40(37) = a draw
Does a team encounter always consist of four individual matches, or should that number be configurable?
In most of leagues, it’s always 4 games.
It’s called an “encounter (4 games)” in the official rules - Board 1 vs Board 1, Board 2 vs Board 2, etc.
All 4 games are always played, even if the match is already decided 6-0 after 3 games. The last game still counts for:
• team points (max 8-0)
• general average and tie-breakers
It can only be less than 4 in 3 situations:
1. W.O. / Forfeit: If a team only brings 3 players, the 4th board is a 2-0 walkover for the other team.
2. No-show: If a team doesn’t show up, the match is 8-0.
3. In Cup / Knockout competitions (Cup, European Cup, Final 4): It’s played as best of 4 - first to 3 wins.
So if a team wins 3-0 (6-0 in points), the encounter is over and the 4th game is not played. It saves time, tables, and energy in tournaments where you can play 2 or 3 team matches in one day.
Which tie-break rules are used for the team result and league standings?
In 3-cushion team competitions, the ranking is done in 2 levels:
1. Points for the table
This is what you saw in your image: FC Porto 6 - 2 FC Porto B
It’s for the 4 individual games (boards):
• Win = 2 points • Draw = 1 point • Loss = 0 points
So max per team match is 8-0.
2. Points for the league table
For the overall standings, you get Team Match Points:
• Team wins the encounter (e.g. 6-2, 5-3) = 2 match points • Team draws the encounter (4-4) = 1 match point • Team loses = 0 match points
Example from your zone: FC Porto has 54 points after 19 rounds - that means 54 match points, not board points.
3. Tie-breakers - if two teams have the same match points
According to the official World Championship Rules for 3-Cushion National Teams:
For rankings in group games the following criteria is valid:
a) Team match points
b) Personal match points
c) Team average
d) Highest personal average
Translated to your FC Porto case:
1. Team Match Points
• Team wins the encounter = 2 points • Team draws the encounter = 1 point • Loss = 0 points
2. Personal Match Points / Game Points
The sum of board points. It’s the 6-2, 5-3, 8-0 you saw. Win on a board = 2, draw = 1.
3. Team Average (General Average)
Total caroms scored by the team / Total innings played by the team. This is the most important tie-breaker.
4. Highest Personal Average / Best Average
Best average in a single team match.
In practice, in Europe they also use:
5. Highest Runs - highest series of the team
6. Drawing
So average is EVERYTHING. A team that wins 8-0 with a 1.200 average will be ranked above a team that also wins 8-0 but with a 0.900 average.
IN SOME KNOCKOUT STAGES OR CUP COMPETITIONS:
In case of a tie, the following criteria are successively used to determine the winner:
1 The difference between sets won and lost;
2 The average of the teams in that encounter;
3 The team with the highest number of caroms scored;
4 A penalty series by the 4 athletes of each team (in order, from board 4 to board 1).
5 A penalty series by the number 1 athletes of each team.
What is penalty series (4th and 5th points)?
Eg.: Match tied 4-4
After checking sets, averages and caroms, if everything is still tied:
• Duel 1: The home team’s Board 4 player plays his penalty series (from the starting spot until he misses). Then the away team’s Board 4 player does the same. Whoever scores more wins and his team goes through. It’s over.
• If Duel 1 on Board 4 is tied (e.g., 1-1), it goes to Duel 2: Board 3 vs Board 3. Same process.
• If it’s tied again, Duel 3: Board 2 vs Board 2.
• If it’s tied again, Duel 4: Board 1 vs Board 1.
If all 4 duels are tied, the regulations state:
A penalty series by the number 1 athletes of each team.
That is, only the two number 1 players remain, playing repeated penalties until one of them wins and qualifies his team.
The oficial result will be 4-4 but some federations put eg.: 4-4 (5-4 after pen.)
VERY IMPORTANT: Points scored in the penalties do not count towards the average.
Which competition or federation uses the 3 points for a team win, 2 for a draw and 1 for a loss system you described?
Please note that 3-cushion billiards may have slight variations depending on the organizing body or competition. For example, in the Portuguese team championship, they use 3 points for a win, 2 for a draw and 1 for a loss (in the standings) and not 2, 1, 0 as in the general rules. I believe this won’t be a problem, because Joomleague allows you to define the points for win, draw and loss in each sport or project, right?
Could you share a link to its official regulations?
Would you also like to record and display each player’s average points per inning and highest run?
It would be fabulous.
if you could display the match history on each player’s profile and statistics.
It would be amazing if you could define all the possible tie-breaking criteria in 3-cushion billiards for teams tied in the standings. That way you could adjust the criteria according to what is defined by the organizing body of competitions worldwide.
Sorry for the long post. I hope it helps to implement this new sport in Joomleague.
Thank you very much for your prompt reply and availability.
