In search of the perfect match schedule

Roel Lambers (photo: Bart Overbeeke) - The doctoral thesis of Roel Lambers has already become a manual for match schedulers. Sports and competition are inextricably linked. But producing the optimal match schedule is a sport in itself. Mathematician Roel Lambers studied ways to ensure that darts players and teams playing either soccer or a Dutch regional sport called beugelen are matched up as fairly as possible. He defended his thesis on Friday November 11th at the Department of Mathematics and Computer Science. Matches in a tournament among tennis friends can be organized fairly easily, but upscale to a sports federation event and the complexity involved in meeting the demands of the various parties involved is much greater. Not only are there the athletes to consider, but the spectators, hall managers, and TV broadcasters also want to have a hand in designing the match schedule, and all bring their own priorities.