DOT Season 5 — League Rules

Divisions

• Division A: 7 teams
• Division B: 7 teams
• Total league size: 14 teams

Each team will play every other team in their Division in the regular season.

The line formation rules will remain the same for the entire season, including playoffs.

Team Roster

• Each team consists of 14 players.
• Players should play lines as per the Line Formation rules defined in Section 3.
• It’s mandatory for Rank 1 players to play L1.
• Before the start of the league, replacements will be permitted from within the pool of existing players in ‘Waitlist’. Players who have played other Desi leagues may be preferred for replacement over players with no history in desi leagues even if they are in the ‘Waitlist’.
• Once a replacement is selected, the original player will NOT be permitted to play this season.
• Roster becomes locked after the first match unless approved by the EC’s.

Player Replacement (once the League has started)

• In case of emergency, injury or other genuine cases, replacement will be permitted. Players in the waitlist may be first choice. Players who have played other Desi leagues may be preferred for replacement over players with no history in desi leagues even if they are in the ‘Waitlist’.
• Replacement selection process will be based on polling of the captains from the opposite division i.e., if replacement is for a team in Division A then captains in Division B will be able to vote in the poll. Once a replacement is selected, the original player will NOT be permitted to play this season.
• Captains should inform the ECs if a replacement is needed. The EC’s will get back to the captain with potential replacement(s) from the Waitlist or from other sources if they are unable to find a suitable replacement within the Waitlisted players.

Division Play

• Each division has 7 teams → 6 opponents
• Every team plays all other teams in their division once.

Match Scheduling

• Lineups are due the previous Thu 9 PM for the following week's matches.
• If lineups are not received by the cutoff time, the prior weeks’ lineup will be defaulted for the next weeks’ play.
• All lineups to be published in the portal by Thu 10 PM.
• A duration of 2 weeks is provided to complete all the matches for each round.
  • Start: Monday (1st day)
  • End: Sunday (14th day)
• The home team captain is responsible for coordinating with the away team captain to schedule matches for all the lines within 3 days (Sun 10 PM) of publishing the lineups.
• For each line, the home team should provide 4 play dates (2 in week 1 and 2 in week 2) for scheduling the matches.
• Each player should provide at least 3 available dates for the match.
• If all 4 players are unable to arrive at a date for the match, the away team should provide 3 dates for the match. If there is still no consensus, the default date to complete the match is the 2nd Sunday at 7 PM. The team that shows up on the courts will be declared the winner.
• Once the match dates have been finalized, the home captain is responsible for updating the match schedule in the portal by Sun 9 PM.
• Rainouts or delays because of weather conditions or other genuine emergency situations must be completed by the Play By Date.
• The home team is responsible for booking courts and providing balls for the match.
• The home captain is responsible for entering the scores in the portal.

Match Rescheduling

Requests for rescheduling should be made at least 12 hours prior to the match time. An alternate date/time should be fixed before rescheduling. The match should be rescheduled by the Play By Date for that weeks’ play.

Late Passes

• Each team will be provided 6 late passes for their regular season matches.
• Requests for late passes should be raised by the captain before a match is scheduled.
• In cases where a scheduled match is either incomplete or cannot be completed within the 2 week timeframe, the concerned captain can request a late pass to reschedule the match.
• Any match using the late pass will have to be completed in the 3rd week before Sun 7 PM. In case the match needs to be postponed again, the other captain can request a late pass for an additional week and needs to be completed by the 4th Sun 7 PM. There will not be any further rescheduling permitted. In case the match is incomplete, both teams will be awarded 0 points for the match.

Each team match includes 7 doubles lines:

• 14 players play each week (all players) — one match per player.
• No player will be permitted to play more than 6 matches during the regular season.
• The only requirement is that R1 must play L1. All the other players can play lines based on the line formation rules outlined below.

• Line 1 (L1) - R1, R2, R3, R4
• Line 2 (L2) - R2, R3, R4, R5, R6
• Line 3 (L3) - R2, R3, R4, R5, R6, R7
• Line 4 (L4) - R5, R6, R7, R8, R9, R10
• Line 5 (L5) - R7, R8, R9, R10, R11, R12, R13
• Line 6 (L6) - R8, R9, R10, R11, R12, R13, R14
• Line 7 (L7) - R11, R12, R13, R14

Defaults

• If a team cannot field a legal pair for a line, that line is defaulted.
• If a team does not provide dates for the matches, that line is defaulted.
• A default score is recorded as 6–0, 6–0 for the opponent.

Disallowed Actions

• Illegal line formation.
• Player substitution without informing both the captains and EC’s.
• The line will be treated as default and the team will be awarded 0 points for that line.

All matches are best of 3 sets. A set is completed when one pair wins 6 games with a margin of at least 2 games. If the set score reaches 6-6, a 7-point tiebreaker with a margin of 2 will be played to determine the winner of that set.

By default, if the set score is 1-1, the teams will play a 3rd set. If all 4 players agree before the start of the match, then a 10-point tiebreaker will be played instead of a full 3rd set. If not, a full set will be played.

Match Points

• 1 point per line won (7 points possible each match).
• Weekly match score example: 4–3, 6–1, 7–0, etc.

Standings are determined by:

1. Total points earned (lines won)
2. Head-to-head results
3. Fewest sets lost
4. Fewest games lost
5. Coin toss

Each division maintains its own standings (A and B separate).

• Captains are responsible for fair compliance with rankings.
• No coaching between games.
• All disputes will be handled by DOT league ECs.
• Scores must be submitted within 24 hours of match completion.

• A 15-minute default rule will be enforced for all games. If one team is not present within 15 minutes of the mutually agreed start time, that team will forfeit the game, and the opposing team will be awarded the points.
• Scoring Format: All matches will be played as best 2 out of 3 sets, with a full 3rd set. However, if all four players agree at the start of the match, a 10-point match tiebreak can substitute for the full 3rd set.
• Rest time during changeovers is limited to 1 minute, except between sets, which allows for up to 5 minutes.
• In the event of an injury during a match, a medical timeout of up to 5 minutes will be permitted. Only one medical timeout is allowed per injury, and if the same injury recurs, no additional medical timeout will be granted.
• Once a match has started, it cannot be paused or stopped to be completed on another day, nor delayed for more than 5 minutes, unless for valid reasons (see below). Any team causing such a pause or stop (without a valid reason) will forfeit the match, and the opposing team will be awarded the points.
• Valid reasons include rain delays or deteriorating court conditions, such as non-working lights. Player injury, leaving court for family or other commitments are not valid reasons.
• Any exception to this rule must be discussed between the ECs and the respective Captains to reach a resolution.
• ECs will have the ultimate authority over any exceptions.

Teams Advancing

• Top 4 teams from each division qualify for playoffs.
• 8 teams enter the playoffs.

Player Replacement

• In case of emergency, injury or other genuine cases, replacement will be permitted. The replacement will come from the teams that did not make the playoffs. The captain requesting a replacement will select a player for that specific rank through a draw based on player availability from the 4 teams that did not make the playoffs. If all players for that rank are not available, the next lower rank players will be considered for replacement. (If a captain requests replacement for their Rank 6 players, 1 of 4 players from the teams that did not make the playoffs will be picked from a draw. If all the 4 Rank 6 players are not available, the available Rank 7 players will be considered for replacement.)
• Once a replacement is selected, the original player will NOT be permitted to play this season.

Quarterfinals (Cross-Division)

• A1 vs B4
• A2 vs B3
• A3 vs B2
• A4 vs B1

Semifinals

• Winner of A1/B4 vs Winner of B2/A3
• Winner of A2/B3 vs Winner of B1/A4

Finals

Semifinal winners play for the championship.

Playoff Lineup Rules

Same rules as the regular season apply for all lines.

Team Divisions

Weekly Schedule

Each team plays all other teams within their division once. All teams will have a bye in one week over the course of the division matches.