Rohan DsouzaSort the exceptions before switching it on
Three courts finish while you are finding a missing player. You need matches ready for those courts, but you do not need the missing player placed into another Next up slot. Put the absence on the board first.
In SmashIQ, an organiser or referee can switch on Auto mode from Match Control. It fills empty Next up slots and assigns free umpires. It runs in the tournament server, so closing your page does not switch it off.
The desk makes the announcements. Current Auto mode does not play automatic court or get-ready calls. Treat a prepared Next up card as work to inspect, not as evidence that anyone has been called.
What it prepares for you
After a board-changing action, Auto mode works from the updated board. It places one match, reads the board again, and continues. An existing Next up card keeps its place.
Simplified flow · Court 2 has an empty Next up slot
- 1
Place a match
Take the first playable match from today’s running order. Consider idle courts before busy ones. If every remaining candidate is blocked, prepare the match estimated to become playable soonest.
- 2
Assign its umpire
Give a card without an umpire the most-rested free eligible umpire. Exclude officials already on court, assigned to another Next up card, marked unavailable, or serving as this match’s service judge.
The umpire ordering puts those with no recorded work today first, then those whose last assignment ended longest ago. Read that as recorded workload. It cannot tell you who is tired, feeling unwell or best suited to a difficult final.
If you want one fill and then manual control, use Fill empty Next up slots once in the Auto mode menu while Auto mode is off. It fills the empty slots with umpire assignments in one operation and reports any courts it could not fill. It does not switch on continuing Auto mode.
Next up can still mean “wait”
If nothing is playable, Auto mode can put a blocked match on Next up so you can see the likely next work. Its estimate accounts for players still on court, their required rest and unfinished feeder matches. That estimate is not a start-time promise.
Read the readiness reasons before calling it. A player may still be playing elsewhere or may not have reached the tournament’s live-day rest floor. Caution and watch warnings can remain eligible; Auto mode does not wait for your ideal rest gap.
Some work is excluded rather than placed to wait: matches involving a held player, a player already reserved on another Next up card, or a required forced-withdrawal review. Unavailable or suspended courts are left alone. Resolve the recorded reason instead of trying the same move repeatedly.
Put the absence where Auto mode can read it
In this illustrative tournament, Leela is taking an umpire break until 11:20 and Dev is away until 11:15. In Announcements & availability, add each to Not available with the return time. You can also hold a court there.
Announcements & availability
Not available
Needs a decision
Both are on Match #12, next up on Court 2.
- Leela’s assignmentAssign another umpire
- Dev’s matchUnschedule, back to queue
A new hold prevents the relevant automatic placement or assignment. It does not remove someone from a card already waiting. The panel lists those cards under Needs a decision.
For Dev’s match, unschedule it if you need to release the slot. For Leela’s assignment, choose another official. If the court is unavailable, move the pending match to an offered free Next up slot, or unschedule it when that is the offered fix. Use the controls that match the problem.
Be careful with unscheduling while Auto mode is on. If the same match is still first in the queue and nothing excludes it, Auto mode can place it again. Record the hold first, or turn Auto mode off while you rearrange the work.
At the return time, the hold stops applying to subsequent decisions. There is no timed wakeup that moves a match at that exact minute; another board-changing action prompts the next pass. Mark the person available earlier if they return, or extend the hold if they are still away.
Check the court, then make the call
Once the card is ready, check the court is free, the players can play and the assigned official is available. Prepare its audio with Download call, then play it when you intend to announce. Downloading audio does not announce a match.
Keep responsibility for the hall speaker explicit at the desk. A colleague seeing a Next up card cannot infer whether you have called it. Tell them what you have announced, especially when handing over.
For a match whose player is still on another court, use the free-court example to decide what should wait and what you can move. Moving the blocked match to a different court does not free the player.
Hand over the switch as well as the clipboard
Auto mode is shared tournament state. It keeps preparing work when your browser closes. Tell the incoming desk whether it is on, which cards need attention and which absences are recorded. An organiser or referee can switch it off from Match Control.
If the day has no matches left to place, or an automatic action is refused, Auto mode turns itself off and shows a reason. Check the board before restarting it: placements already made can remain. A blocked card or unavailable umpire can simply wait without switching Auto mode off.
Before the first busy spell, try the one-time fill and inspect its cards. Once you understand what it chose, decide whether to leave Auto mode on. Keep making the calls deliberately.