The following 3 principles need to be fulfilled in order for a sport to qualify for the term Racketlon:
a) The game must include the following four sports: table tennis, badminton, squash and tennis.
b) The game must be built on the concept of a Racketlon match involving the same two individuals
playing each other in all four sports - with identically formatted sets being played in each sport.
c) Each rally must count. The player who wins most rallies in total is the winner of the Racketlon
match.
Any sport that fulfills the 3 principles above is Racketlon. Any other sport involving the combination of
several racket sports might be termed "multi racket sport" - but is not Racketlon.
(Singles Rules)
Set Order:
From smaller to larger rackets.
The four sets shall be played in the following order:
table tennis, badminton, squash, tennis
Scoring:
a) Running score to 21. Margin of two points.
Every rally results in a point to the winner of the rally - i.e. "running score" is applied - and the winner of each set is the player who first reaches 21 points.
b) Total points count.
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 lose three out of the four sets and still win the match.
c) Early interruption.
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.).
d) Tiebreak.
If, after all 4 sets, both players have exactly the same number of points the Gummiarm Tiebreak applies, see below.
Serving & Ends of Court:
a) The toss.
The initial order of serving, receiving and ends in each of the four sets 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 (except in squash, of course) the player who starts receiving decides what end to start the set from.
b) Two serves each.
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 in table tennis, of course). The second serve is from the left side.
c) Switch at 11.
Ends are switched at the time when 11 points are first reached by any of the players.
After 20-20 the serve switches hand after 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.
e) Second serve in tennis.
In the tennis set, the server has two chances - first and second service - just as in normal tennis. This is not, however, valid at Gummiarm Tiebreak, see below.
