2025 Knoxville Sweat for Ukraine Open Tournament Players Information

Posted on Posted in Club News, Tournaments

Notes About the Tournament:

Tournament Format

  • 1st Round (Format: Round Robin):
    • 48 players are divided into 8 groups of 6 and play a round robin format.  All players must play the first round to qualify to the second round.  No players will be seeded out.
  • 2nd Round (Format: Round Robin, 2 groups of 4 per division) Every player from 1st Round will advance to 2nd Round:
    • The 1st place finish from 1st Round will be placed in Division A RR groups.
    • The 2nd place finish from 1st Round will be placed in Division B RR groups.
    • The 3rd place finish from 1st Round will be placed in Division C RR groups.
    • The 4th place finish from 1st Round will be placed in Division D RR groups.
    • The 5th place finish from 1st Round will be placed in Division E RR groups.
    • The 6th place finish from 1st Round will be placed in Division F RR groups.
  • 3rd Round (Format: Elimination)
    • Top two finishes of each 2nd round RR group will advance to play a cross-over semi-finals.
    • The winning player from the semi-finals will play for 1st and 2nd place of the division.
    • The losing player from the Semi-finals will play the 3rd place of the division.

About the Competition Venue and general administrative matters

  • The competition is played at the PickleBall Playground Indoor Pickleball Courts (Court 9 & 10).  The address is 2810 Ball Camp Byington Road, Knoxville, TN 37931.  The phone number there is 865-999-5926.  You may need to use Google Map to type in the location name instead of the address.  Some GPS units may take you to an apartment complex.  If you do, just keep driving down the road.
  • You are advised to wear non-marking shoes.  Any indoor Table Tennis shoes or any Tennis Court shoes will be fine.
  • You can drive through the front gate and park your car inside the complex.  But please do not park outside the complex because those areas belong to the storage company.

Differences From Previous Tournament

  • Since this tournament aims to raise funds for the koloHUB, TN-based charity organization, which provies medical and humanitarian aid to Ukraine, we are working to minimize expenses and maximize profits for the organization.  So the following are different from our previous tournaments:
    • Updates to Tournament Awards – To help maximize our charitable impact, we’ve slightly reduced spending on trophies.  As a result, this event’s trophies may be slightly smaller and feature new designs and styles compared to previous tournaments.
    • Ukrainian-inspired Lunch & Baked Goods Sale – We won’t be serving pizza for lunch this time.  Instead, the koloHUB team will prepare an Ukrainian-inspired lunch for authentic Ukrainian cuisine and freshly baked treats for sales during the event.  Lunch will start serving at 12:30 pm.
    • Ukrainian Souvenir Sale – Browse our selection of Ukrainian souvenirs available during the event, a perfect way to support koloHUB fundraiser and take home a piece of Ukrainian culture.
    • Choose a Fundraising Campaign to Support – All proceeds and donations from these fundraiser campaigns will support koloHUB humanitarian causes.  You can choose the cause that matters most to you:
      • Santa for a Day: Ukrainian Angel Tree 2025 – This year marks the 4th annual drive to bring joy to children from frontline regions who have lost their parents or homes due to the war.  With your help, we plan to deliver Christmas presents and chocolates to 500+ children in need.  Donate here: https://www.zeffy.com/en-US/donation-form/santa-for-a-day-ukrainian-angel-tree–2025
      • Help Us be Their +1: Support Healing and Hope for Ukraine’s Children and Families – At koloHUM, we believe no child should face the trauma of war alone.  That’s why we’ve partnered with Voices of Children, an Ukrainian non-profit providing psychological care, therapy, and safe spaces for children and families affected by war.  Together, we aim to raise over $10,000 to fund vital programs that bring healing, hope, and belonging to Ukraine’s youngest survivors.  Donate here: https://www.zeffy.com/en-US/donation-form/help-us-be-their-1-support-healing-and-hope-for-ukraines-children-and-families
      • Help us support the Nationwide Vaccination and Sterilization of animals in Ukraine – We’re proud to partner with Happy Paw, an Ukrainian non-profit dedicated to protecting and caring for animals impacted by war.  In 2025, we aim to raise $10,000 to vaccinate and sterilize at least 200 cats and dogs, helping curb diseases.  Your support ensures that animals at the frontlines of Ukraine receive essential vaccinations, sterilization, and lifesaving veterinary care, helping preventing the spread of disease (e.g. rabies) and reduce the growing number of strays.  Donate here: https://www.zeffy.com/en-US/donation-form/d5608d21-a799-4914-8c5d-f3e7f3e18ec5
    • Giveaway Event – We are excited to host a giveaway featuring three gift baskets packed with fantastic items!
      • Time:  01:00 – 1:30 pm
      • How to enter:
        • Entry is free and open to all attendees (players and guests)
        • To participate, please fill out a Giveaway Entry Form on-site during registration between 8:00 to 8:45 am for the players and other guests can still enter the event by 9:30 am.
        • One entry per person.  Duplicate entries will be discarded.
        • Winners will be selected at random and announced during the lunch break (12:30 to 1:30 pm.)
      • Giveaway Rules:
        • No purchase or donation is necessary to enter or win.
        • A purchase or donation will not increase your chances of winning.
        • Must be present at the event to claim a prize.
        • Giveaway is open to individuals aged 18 and older
        • Prizes are non-transferable and have no cash value.
        • The organizers reserve the right to modify or cancel the giveaway in case of unforeseen circumstances.
    • For participants who selected the “Donate to koloHUB (non-playing event)” option during registration, each donation comes with a personalized gift from Ukraine as a token of our heartfelt thanks for your generous support of Ukraine.

Targeted Schedule on 10/18/2025 Tournament Date

  • 08:00 a.m. – Indoor courts open for check-in and warm up
  • 08:45 a.m. – Players meeting starts
  • 09:00 a.m. – Preliminary Round Robin Competition starts
  • 01:00 p.m. – Target finish time for 1st round.
  • 01:00 p.m. to 01:30 p.m.  – Lunch Time and Giveaway Draw
  • 01:30 p.m. – Target start time for Division A, B, C, D 2nd Round Robin Group, 1 table for each group, each division will have 2 RR groups.
  • 03:30 p.m. – Target start time for Division E, F Round Robin Group.
  • 04:00 p.m. – Target start time for Division A Semi-Finals
  • 04:00 p.m. – Target start time for Division B Semi-Finals
  • 04:30 p.m. – Target start time for Division C Semi-Finals
  • 04:30 p.m. – Target start time for Division D Semi-Finals
  • 05:00 p.m. – Target start time for Division A, B Finals
  • 05:30 p.m. – Target start time for Division C, D Finals, Division A, B 3rd Place Match
  • 05:30 p.m. – Target finish time for Division E, F 2nd Round Robin Group
  • 05:30 p.m. – Target start time for Division E, F Semi-Finals
  • 06:15 p.m. – Target start time for Division E, F Finals and 3rd Place Match
  • 07:00 p.m. – Target finish time for all divisions.

Check-in and No-Show

  • Please make sure that you sign the USATT Waiver form at check-in.  We cannot report the tournament results without your signature.  Parents/Legal Guardian will sign the form on behalf of the junior players.
  • Players meeting will start at 8:45 a.m. and competition will start at 9:00 a.m.  Due to the high number of matches to be played, we will start on time.  If you are late, your group will play around you first.  But if you are too late after all the matches are played among other group members, your matches will be defaulted and you won’t be able to participate for the rest of the tournament. No refund will be issued when this happens.

About the Upset Gold Dollar

  • Our tournament features a unique payout and that is our Upset Gold Dollars.  These are real one dollar coins that we give to player who scores an upset match.
  • Upset Gold Dollar will be paid to winners of all upsets, regardless of player’s rating. However, both players at the match must have an official USATT rating before the start of the tournament before the winner of the match can receive the Upset Gold Dollar.  So if you upset a player whose rating is estimated or if your rating is an estimated one, the match does not qualify for Gold Dollars.
  • Winners of each and every upset will receive Upset Gold Dollars using the following payout schedule:
    • Rating Difference: 100 or less, Upset Gold Dollar reward: $5.00
    • Rating Difference: 101 to 150, Upset Gold Dollar reward: $10.00
    • Rating Difference: 151 or larger, Upset Gold Dollar reward: $15.00
  • The gold dollars will be paid immediately upon confirmation of match sheets on a first come first get paid basis until the fund runs out.  KTTC reserves $200 Upset Gold Dollars for this payout.  So sharpen your game and hit the court running fast!

About StadiumCompete.com site for scoring

  • This tournament will utilize the StadiumCompete.com site to go paperless for the tournament operation.  So we are using stadiumcompete.com to record the score during each game via your mobile phone.  So in order to make sure that the operation will run smoothly, please create your account using the same email address that you use when you enter the entry if you have not done so.  And please be sure to update your birthday information because your birthday year will be used to confirm the score in StadiumCompete.com if the other player is recording the score during the match.
  • The day before the tournament, the Pickleball Wi-Fi connection information will be sent to the players.  Due to the gym location, cell phone reception is not too strong.  So we will need you to connect to the Wi-Fi instead in order to use the Stadiumcompete.com web site.
  • In addition, there is no app to download to your phone to operate.  You just need to use stadiumcompete.com, locate our tournament.  You can use this link to navigate straight to our tournament: https://stadiumcompete.com/tournament/cb718fce-4f18-45c0-bbcb-6086e83b88f1/cb718
  • If you need to learn more about the website/mobile site approach on how to enter a match score, you can use this YouTube video to learn about the site.  The first part of the video talks about setting up the tournament.  So you can fast forward to the section that shows how to enter score.  Here’s the YT link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PbaT3IW4UWc

Confirmed Players

The following are the individuals whose entries are confirmed.  This is the same list on www.omnipong.com Sort By Event page.  Latest rating posted on Friday morning April 18th, 2025 will be used to prepare the final draw.  Also, for those players whose rating are estimated, they are subject to change per tournament director discretion before the tournament start date. 

Jude Lam, President, Tennessee Table Tennis Club and Academy