The primary purpose of Playoff Qualifying Points (PQP) is to select the Australian team via the playoffs. To be eligible for the playoffs each player must have at least 1 PQP.
Teams with a greater number of PQP are advantaged by having choice of opponents, a carry-forward advantage in case of a tie in a match and, should fewer than 8 teams enter the Playoff, a bye through to the Semi-Finals.
The criteria for allocating PQP to an event include:
- Quality of field eligible to receive PQP’s
- Size of field
- Rigour of the event (e.g. long final matches)
- Relativity with other events and rebalance of awards due to increased number of events and PQP Inflation.
- Geographical fairness in access to PQP
Each year the Tournament Committee reviews the PQP table for the following year. It also considers applications from States/Tournament Organisers for allocation. In this instance the following criteria would be considered;
- The number of PQP events for that category (Open, Women’s, Seniors’)
- Comparative events
- A consistency or improvement in field quality over approximately a 3 year period for that event