Player Guide

Everything a player needs to register, compete, and keep track of their results on PongDesk.

Welcome to PongDesk

This guide is for players: registering for events, signing up for a doubles or team event, following live matches, and tracking your rating and results. Running a tournament yourself? See the Manager Guide instead.

You don't need an account to watch a tournament live or check standings - but you do need one to register, and it's what powers your rating history, career profile, and match results.

Registering & Paying

Find a tournament from its public page or the Tournaments directory and click Register. Sign in (or create a free account) if you haven't already, then pick the event you want to enter.

For Singles events, registering is one step - confirm your rating and eligibility details and you're in. For Doubles, search for your partner by name and pair up; if you don't have a partner yet, you can register solo and be matched later (or a manager pairs you up).

Entry fees, if the club charges them, are shown on the event before you register. Payment tracking is handled by the club - check the tournament page for the club's payment link or instructions.

Changed your mind? Every registration has a Withdraw button on the public tournament page - you can pull yourself out of an event any time before matches are generated, no need to contact the manager.

Playing on a Team

Team events pit squads of players against each other in ties - a fixed sequence of individual matches between the two teams. To register, either create a team or join one that's still short a player:

Create a team - you become the captain. Add teammates you already know by name, or leave open slots for others to fill later.
Join an open team- teams still missing players (“forming”) show up with their open slot count on the registration page. Click to fill one.

Changed your mind before the event starts? You can leave a team you joined yourself. A captain who still has teammates can't leave - ask your club's manager to reassign the roster.

A team missing players when the tournament starts seeding can't be placed in the draw. Fill your roster (or ask a manager to) before matches are generated.

Once your tie is underway, the club's manager sets the lineup for each match - which teammate plays which board - before scores go in. You don't need to do anything for this step; just check the board assignment when it's posted so you know who's up.

Team events don't count toward USATT rating calculations.

Following Live Matches & Standings

No account needed - anyone can follow a tournament as it happens. On the public tournament page, the Live tab updates scores and standings in real time as the manager enters results, and the Entries and Standings tabs show the full field and results for every event and round-robin group.

Clicking your own name anywhere in a bracket, group, or standings table takes you to that tournament's participant page for you - your matches, opponents, and results at that event specifically.

Following a club with several tournaments running the same day? Check the club's /live page for every active tournament on one screen.

Your Account

Your /account dashboard is the hub for everything tied to you: your next registered tournament, recent results, and rating history over time, alongside the usual profile, email, and password settings.

My Tournaments- every tournament you've entered, with your match history for each.
Rating History- your USATT rating's movement after each tournament that counted toward it.

Every player also has a public career profile - click your name from any bracket, standings table, or the tournament entries list to reach it. It shows your lifetime stats, a Head-to-Head breakdown against every opponent you've faced, and any achievement badges you've earned (tournament titles, win streaks, upset wins against much higher-rated opponents).

Career profiles are public and need no login - share your profile link with anyone.