Play your Challenge Ladder season
A Challenge Ladder runs on the players. Nobody books you a court or tells you when to turn up — you get an opponent and a date to play by, and the rest is yours to arrange.
Your match for the round
Open the event and go to Matches. Your match for the round is there with a Play by date on it — the last day of the round.
If the host has turned contact sharing on, a Contact button on the card gives you your opponent's email and phone number. Get in touch, agree a time and a place, and play.
Afterwards either of you enters the score. You do not both need to.
Challenging someone extra
On top of your assigned match you can start extra matches yourself. The Challenge button on the Matches tab shows how many you have left this round.
A challenge has to be someone near you on the ladder — five spots up or down by default — and it has to happen while the round is open. Pick your opponent from the list, which only offers people you are allowed to challenge.
Before the match is created you are asked to confirm one thing: that you have already spoken to that person and they have agreed to play. There is no accept step. Confirm it and the match appears on both your lists straight away, so agreeing it first is the whole point.
If the button is greyed out it says why:
Round N opens… — the round has not started yet
Round N has closed — the play-by date has passed
No challenges left this round — you have used your allowance; it resets next round
Nobody in range to challenge — everyone within range is already playing you this round
Asking someone to play
A challenge is limited on purpose. Asking someone to play is not.
On the Standings tab, anyone on the ladder has a Request button next to them. Send one and they are told you would like a game and given your contact details, and you are given theirs. There is no limit on these and no range — you can ask anyone in the division.
A request does not create a match. It is an introduction. Once you have agreed a time, one of you adds the match — as a challenge if you are within range of each other, or by asking the host to add it if you are not.
If the person you are asking is outside your challenge range, the confirmation says so before you send: you can still play them, that match just cannot be added for ladder points.
The Request button is hidden for anyone you already have a match against this round — you do not need an introduction to someone you are already playing.
What a result is worth
Both sides score from every match, so a close loss to someone above you is still worth playing. Your position on the ladder is your season points total, re-sorted every time a result comes in.
Challenge matches are worth less than your assigned one — and much less if you skip the assigned match altogether. The assigned match is the one that matters most. The full model is in How scoring works in Challenge Ladder.
Missing a round
An unplayed match scores nothing for either side, and there is no penalty beyond that. You keep your points and your position; you simply do not add to them.
If you know you cannot play a round, tell your opponent early so they can ask the host for a different match rather than waiting on one that is not coming.