The Rules of Racketlon
Date: 2007-01-01
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For the revision history see end of document.
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Introduction

Racketlon is the sport in which you play your opponent in each of the four racket sports table tennis, badminton, squash and tennis. A Racketlon match contains four sets, one in each sport. The winner is the best all round racket player.

This document contains the official rules of the game of Racketlon according to the International Racketlon Federation.

Definition of Racketlon

The following three pinciples need to be fulfilled in order for a sport to qualify for the term Racketlon:

• The game must include the following four sports: table tennis, badminton, squash and tennis
• The game must be built on the concept of a Racketlon match involving the same two individuals (pairs in doubles) playing each other in all four sports - with identically formatted sets being played in each sport.
• Each rally must count. The player (pair) who wins most rallies in total is the winner of the Racketlon match.

Any sport that fulfils the three principles above is Racketlon. Any other sport involving the combination of several racket sports might be termed "multi racket sport" - but is not Racketlon.

Set Order

• The sets are played in the following order (from smaller to larger rackets): table tennis, badminton, squash, tennis

Scoring

• Each set is played to 21 points. Every rally results in a point to the winner of the rally - i.e. "running score" is applied. At 20-20 the set is extended until there is a margin of two points. A set can thus end e.g. 22-20 or 25-23 but never 21-20.
• The winner of a Racketlon match is not the one that wins most sets but the one that scores the most points in total. This means that it is possible to loose three out of the four sets and still win the match.
• If any of the players so wishes the match shall be stopped as soon as (a) the winner has enough points for the match to be decided - AND (b) the rest of the points have no other significance. (Note that group play is sometimes decided through counting total points difference. In that case (b) might apply and the rest of the points might still have significance for the result of the group, in which case each match shall be played to the end.).
• If, after 4 sets, both players have exactly the same number of points, then the tennis set is extended with one single point. The winner of this single point tie-break is also the winner of the full match. Server is decided by the drawing of lots. The winner of the lot chooses whether to decide who gets to serve or what end to play at. To off-set the server's advantage there is no second service in the single point.

Serving & Ends of Court

• The initial order of serving, receiving and ends in each of the four sports shall be decided by one single toss before the match starts, according to the following procedure:
  The winner of the toss decides whether to start serving or receiving in table tennis. The player, who starts serving in table tennis, starts receiving in badminton, starts serving in squash and starts receiving in tennis.
  In each set the player who starts receiving decides what end to start the set from.
• After every two points the serve goes to the other player. At the first of these two serves the server always serves from the right (except table tennis). The second serve is from the left side.
• Ends are switched at the time when 11 points are first reached by one of the players.
• After 20-20 the serve switches hand at every point until the set is decided. The two first serves are from the right, the two next serves are from the left and so on.
• In tennis, the server has two chances - first and second service - just as in normal tennis.

Time Intervals & Continuous Play

• A maximum break of one minute shall be allowed at eleven (i.e. when 11 points is first reached by any of the players) in each set.
• The break between sets shall be maximised at "3+3" minutes meaning: (a) Warming up at the next sport has to commence within 3 minutes after the end of the previous set. (b) The next set has to commence within 6 minutes after the end of the previous set
• Play must be continuous at all times (as far as can be reasonably expected). Umpires and referees have the right to penalise players under the misconduct rule should they breach this.
• Players may pause for a brief drink and to towel down every five points only (so after 5, 10, 15 points, etc), if this is breached the umpire may penalise the offending player. If sweat has dripped onto the table tennis table, badminton court, etc, then of course the player may use a towel to wipe that away at any time.

Conduct on Court

For any act of misconduct (as judged by the umpire) such as swearing, threatening behaviour, racket abuse, delaying or dangerous play, etc, the player shall be penalised as follows:

• 1st incident - warning
• 2nd incident - player loses a point
• 3rd incident - player loses the set
• 4th incident - player loses the match and is disqualified from the tournament.

Line Judging:

• If a call by a line judge is challenged and no judge or referee is present then the call stands and the challenger has to accept the call. The challenger may, of course, request a referee to preside for the rest of that set, if available.

Injury

• Each player is allowed one injury time-out per match of 5 minutes
• In the event of bleeding the same rule as above applies, as long as bandages/plasters are readily available of course.
• If any injury is the result of a collision with the opponent, the umpire may allow the player as much time as he needs, and if necessary, penalise either player.

Recommendations

• Organisers should require that protective glasses are worn in all classes but Elite.

All other aspects of the game are regulated by the rules of the individual sports. See the following links:

The rules of Table Tennis (according to the International Table Tennis Federation)
The rules of Squash (according to the World Squash Federation)
The rules of Badminton (according to the International Badminton Federation)
The rules of Tennis (according to the International Tennis Federation)

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Revision history:
2001-08-01: first version
2002-05-17: margin-of-two (22-20) counting introduced (see discussion); links added to rules
2002-12-03: gummiarm tiebreak introduced (see discussion)
2004-05-27:
Clarified that this document contains the official rules of the IRF.
Added a definition of Racketlon.
Added a note to clarify that group play might require that matches are played to the end eventhough they are already decided.
Modified the description of the single point tie-break to clarify that the winner of the lot might also choose which side to play on. (Same thing clarified for the tossing at the beginning of each set).
Added rules about breaks (at 11 and between sports) according to IRF decisions.
Added a recommendation about protective glasses according to an IRF decision.
2004-09-27:
Added rules on Time Intervals, Conduct on Court, Injury and Line Judging according to IRF suggestions (see analysis.doc)
2005-02-17:
Changed the order of sports so that squash and badminton switched place into tt-ba-sq-te - according to an IRF decision. (see analysis)
2007-01-01
Two format changes according to AGM decisions in Vienna 2006-11-25 (see newsitem):
-The serve games shortened from 5 to 2 serves.
-A single toss rule introduced implying alternating "start-to-serve" advantages.

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