Our monthly tournaments are back for 2026. It is social and open to everyone! While the ambience is great and gives a chance to everyone to enjoy Finska throughout the year, it is also our way of selecting the team that will represent Australia at the World Championships in Helsinki, Finland in August 2026. The rules are in and the first points will be distributed tomorrow.
Date: 1st Sunday of each month, with exceptions
Time: 9.30am – 3pm (please arrive on time!)
Location: Ballast Point Park, Birchgrove
BBQ and beers provided by AFSO
Social Finska and Nation’s Squad Selection Tournament Rules
- Tournament Dates
The Tournament will happen once a month, on the following dates, there will be a total of 7 tournaments.
For 2026, it has been decided to have a schedule rotating between Single Tournament (Teams of 1) and Double Tournament (Teams of 2)
Sunday 11th January: Single Tournament
Sunday 1st February: Double Tournament
Sunday 1st March: Double Tournament
Sunday 12th April: Single Tournament
Sunday 3rd May: Double Tournament
Sunday 14th June: Single Tournament
Sunday 5th July: Single Tournament
- Tournament Time
The official tournament time is 9.30AM and this is when sets will be available to train.
The cutoff time which is the time when the draw will be made with players registered is 9.50AM. Any players arriving at 9.51AM or later will be considered late (more on this further).
The first throws are scheduled for 10.00AM.
End of the tournament is aimed at around 3PM.
- Players
Every player is welcome to participate in the tournament, aiming for the Nation’s Squad Selection or coming for Social Finska.
- Nation’s Squad Selection
For the Nation’s Squad to participate in the Nation’s Cup in Helsinki (Finland), August 2026, 4 players will be selected.
The Top 3 players of the Best of 3 results will be selected to the team.
The Best Player (which is not part of the Top 3 mentioned above) in the overall ranking will be selected to complete the team.
- Rankings
There are 2 types of rankings this year.
Best of 3 will see each players gets his 3 best results over the 6 tournaments added (For example, a player coming to all tournaments and scoring 12, 8, 0, 0, 9, 3 will have a total of 29).
The Overall Ranking will see each players have the scores to all the tournaments added together. If you participate to 5 tournaments, all your 5 scores will be added. In the example above, the player will have a total of 32.
If either the Best of 3 or Overall Ranking qualification spots are tied, there will be a Best of 5 match between the tied players to determine who qualifies.
- Points System
To keep a similar number of points allocated each tournament, the points system will be different for Single Tournament and Double Tournament.
Single Tournament
1st – 12
2nd – 10
3rd – 8
4th – 6
5th – 6
6th – 3
7th – 2
8th and + – 0
Double Tournament
1st – 10
2nd – 7
3rd – 4
4th – 2
5th – 0
6th – 0
7th – 0
8th and + – 0
In case of a Double Tournament, each player of the team will score the allocated Points.
- Playing System
In each of the tournaments, there will be a first Round Robin Phase. It is expected to be 3 to 6 Groups in the Single Tournament and 2–4 groups in the Double Tournament, but this will depend on the number of people playing.
In the Round Robin, each Team will play against the other Teams in the group in 1 vs 1, and 2 sets only will be played.
Ranking is based on:
Number of Sets Won
- Playing System (cont…)
In case of equality we will consider the direct games with:
- Number of sets won
- Total of small points scored
- Different in small points
We will try to have every team to qualify to the knock out rounds, and have no teams eliminated in the Round Robin.
Knock-Out rounds will be played Best of 3 until the final which will be played Best of 5.
If the number of players is low and time allows, games may be played Best of 5 beforehand.
- Teams for Double Tournament
In the double tournament, players will NOT be allowed to select their partners.
A Draw will be made where someone from the Top Half of the current “Best of 3 Ranking” will be paired with someone from the Bottom Half of the current “Best of 3 Ranking”, the draw will be made on the spot electronically.
In case of an odd number of players (For example 11), the player ranked exactly half way (in the example, the player ranked 6th of players present) will play Solo.
- Draws for the Group Phase
For the Single Tournament, the best players from the overall ranking will be seeded and spread across the different groups (The number of seeds will be dependent on the number of groups, 1 seed per group).
All other players will be drawn randomly and electronically.
For the Double Tournament, there will be no seeding.
- Late Arrival Penalty
To give everyone the best experience, players who will arrive late will be included and allowed to play in the tournament.
If you arrive late, please ensure to warn the organisers so that your presence will be known.
If you arrive more than 30 minutes delay (After 10.20AM), and you have not warned the organisers, your participation in the tournament will not be possible.
Any late arrival (9.51AM and later) will see a penalty for the player(s) concerned. A total of 1 point per 15 minutes delay will be withdrawn from the points you earn that day (If you arrive at 9.56AM, 1 point will be deducted. If you arrive at 10.08AM, 2 points will be deducted).
The maximum penalty for any single day will be 2 points, but if you arrive with more than 30 minutes delay, your participation may not be possible if you haven’t warned the organisers.
- Lunch
AFSO will provide lunch and a few beers at each of the tournaments.
A lunchbreak will be planned in the organisation of the tournament.
- State & Territory Tournament
For State & Territory tournaments organised throughout the year 2026, points scoring will be considered.
Only people residing in this State or Territory will be able to score points and points will only be allocated to the winners (10 points) and to the finalists (7 points).
For example, during the Finska Open of Tasmania, only residents of Tasmania can score points.
(Only Finska Open of State & Territory are considered in this category)