interplanetary knock-out

reaching back from august 2018
to september 2016

[ + links to:  Hall of Fame  -  IKO September 2018 onwards  ]

august 2018

first round, 1-5 august 2018:

no.1 seed:  Mars  39    vs.     no.17 seed:  Amalthea  31

no.9 seed:  Vulcan  25      vs.      no.25 seed:  Ariel  7  

no.5 seed:  Saturn  25      vs.     no.21 seed:  The Reefs of Space  21

no.13 seed:  Asteroid Progenitor  17     vs.     no. 29 seed:  Leda  14 

no.3 seed: Jupiter  34      vs.     no.19 seed:  Iapetus  16

no.11 seed:  The Moon  22     vs      no.27 seed:  Io  9  

no.7 seed:  Pellucidar  25     vs.     no.23 seed:  Callisto  13  

no.15 seed:  Pluto  19      vs.     no.31 seed:  Ceres  8   

no.2 seed:  Venus  38       vs.      no.18 seed:  Comets  13   

no.10 seed:  The Sun  34      vs       no.26 seed:  Oberon  8   

no.6 seed:  The Asteroids  27      vs.      no.22 seed:   Ganymede  9 

no.14 seed:  Neptune  23      vs.     no.30 seed:  Titania  8    

no. 4 seed:  Mercury  26     vs.      no.20 seed:  Triton  32

no.12 seed:  Earth  24      vs.     no.28 seed:  Umbriel  2 

no.8 seed:  Titan  17      vs.     no.24 seed:  Europa  14

no.16 seed:  Uranus  24      vs.     no.32 seed:  Styx  6

Last month's first-round shock was the Comets' victory over Venus; this time the Venusians - paired again with the Comets - had their revenge, while the role of 'shocked' went to the Mercurians, who lost to Triton.

second round, 6-10 august 2018:

no.1 seed:  Mars  34    vs.     no.9 seed:  Vulcan  14     

no.5 seed:  Saturn  26      vs.     no.13 seed:  Asteroid Progenitor  13    

no.3 seed: Jupiter  24      vs.     no.11 seed:  The Moon  12     

no.7 seed:  Pellucidar  19     vs.     no.15 seed:  Pluto  9      

no.2 seed:  Venus  22       vs.      no.10 seed:  The Sun  16       

no.6 seed:  The Asteroids  31      vs.      no.14 seed:  Neptune  14      

no.20 seed:  Triton  18      vs.     no.12 seed:  Earth  15     

no.8 seed:  Titan  17      vs.     no.16 seed:  Uranus  15     

quarter-finals, 11-15 august 2018:

no.1 seed:  Mars      vs.     no.5 seed:  Saturn 

no.3 seed: Jupiter        vs.     no.7 seed:  Pellucidar 

no.2 seed:  Venus       vs.      no.6 seed:  The Asteroids 

no.20 seed:  Triton        vs.     no.8 seed:  Titan     

After the first day's play:

Mars  6    Saturn  2
Jupiter  6    Pellucidar  1
Venus  7    The Asteroids  1
Triton  0    Titan  3

After the second day's play:

Mars  9    Saturn  3
Jupiter  7    Pellucidar  2
Venus  9    The Asteroids  5
Triton  0    Titan  6

After the third day's play:

Mars  15    Saturn  5
Jupiter  8    Pellucidar  4
Venus  11    The Asteroids  9
Triton  3    Titan  7

After the fourth day's play:

Mars  20    Saturn  9
Jupiter  12    Pellucidar  7
Venus  13    The Asteroids  14
Triton  6    Titan  10

QUARTER-FINAL RESULTS, AUGUST 2018:

no.1 seed:  Mars  25     vs.     no.5 seed:  Saturn  14

no.3 seed:  Jupiter  15      vs.     no.7 seed:  Pellucidar 14

no.2 seed:  Venus  17     vs.      no.6 seed:  The Asteroids 19

no.20 seed:  Triton  10     vs.     no.8 seed:  Titan  11   

semi-finals, 16-20 august 2018; results out 21 aug:

no.1 seed:  Mars       vs.     no.3 seed:  Jupiter       

no.6 seed:  The Asteroids      vs.     no.8 seed:  Titan     

After the first day's play:

Mars  10    Jupiter  5
The Asteroids  6    Titan  3

After the second day's play:

Mars  15    Jupiter  9
The Asteroids  9    Titan  6

After the third day's play:

Mars  29    Jupiter  22
The Asteroids  17    Titan  13

After the fourth day's play:

Mars  34    Jupiter  32
The Asteroids  22    Titan  16

After the fifth day's play:

SEMI-FINAL RESULTS, AUGUST 2018

no.1 seed:  Mars  37     vs.     no.3 seed:  Jupiter   33

no.6 seed:  The Asteroids  28    vs.     no.8 seed:  Titan  19

So, for the third time in history, we're in for a Mars vs. Asteroids final.  Mars won in February 2017; the Asteroids won in November.

the final, 21-25 august 2018; result out 26 aug:

no.1 seed:  Mars       vs.     no.6 seed:  The Asteroids 

After the first day's play:
Mars  6    The Asteroids  7

After the second day's play:
Mars  9    The Asteroids  11   

After the third day's play:
Mars  14    The Asteroids  13   

After the fourth day's play:
Mars  16    The Asteroids  17

After the fifth day's play:

FINAL RESULT, 25 AUGUST 2018

no.1 seed:  Mars  20     vs.     no.6 seed:  The Asteroids 17

So the winner of the 24th Interplanetary Knock-Out championship, August 2018, is

Mars

This has surely turned out to be the most dramatic of finals, with four changes of place.  The Martians had to catch up twice, and clinched the trophy with their last surge.  But it was no fluke result.  It is fitting that the highest overall scorer and number 1 seed should win the championship.

Kli Yang, crew-member of the space-vessel Upskadaska City and current IKO team captain, held the trophy aloft in his tentacles while rolling his eyes in different directions over the crowd.

It is a specially special occasion for the Red Planet as their team has finally equalled the 6-trophy score of their great rivals the Venusians.  Between them, those two neighbours of Earth have notched up exactly half of the 24 championships held so far.

Also, the Martians now join the select class (previously including only the Venusians and Mercurians) of those who have won the trophy on two consecutive months.

Trophy numbers now as follows:  6 each for Venus and Mars; 4 for Mercury; 2 each for the Asteroids, Jupiter and Saturn; 1 each for Vulcan and Titan.

---

july 2018

first round, 1-5 july 2018; results out 6 july:

no.1 seed:  Mars  39    vs.     no.17 seed:  Asteroid Progenitor Planet  13 

no.9 seed:  The Moon  11      vs.      no.25 seed:  Io  4

no.5 seed:  Saturn  19     vs.     no.21 seed:  Callisto  7

no.13 seed:  Iapetus  6     vs.     no. 29 seed:  Titania   4

no.3 seed: Titan  15     vs.     no.19 seed:  Amalthea  5

no.11 seed:  Earth  11     vs      no.27 seed:  Oberon  5

no.7 seed:  Mercury  11     vs.     no.23 seed:  Triton  9

no.15 seed:  The Reefs of Space  8     vs.     no.31 seed:  Cerberus  2

no.2 seed:  Jupiter  16      vs.      no.18 seed:  Uranus  12   

no.10 seed:  Pellucidar  12      vs       no.26 seed:  Ceres  1 

no.6 seed:  The Sun  9      vs.      no.22 seed:   Ganymede  8

no.14 seed:  Neptune  11     vs.     no.30 seed:  Ariel  4 

no. 4 seed:  Venus  10     vs.      no.20 seed:  Comets  12

no.12 seed:  Vulcan  10      vs.     no.28 seed:  Pallas  4 

no.8 seed:  The Asteroids  14      vs.     no.24 seed:  Europa  4

no.16 seed:  Pluto  17     vs.     no.32 seed:  Styx  3

Venus beaten by the Comets - whatever next!!  Meanwhile, the Martians surge early; maybe too early, unless they can keep it up (as last month shows, it's the late surger who wins).

second round, 6-10 july 2018:

no.1 seed:  Mars  22    vs.     no.9 seed:  The Moon  9   

no.5 seed:  Saturn  19     vs.     no.13 seed:  Iapetus  5

no.3 seed:  Titan  11     vs.     no.11 seed:  Earth  8   

no.7 seed:  Mercury  16     vs.     no.15 seed:  The Reefs of Space  5   

no.2 seed:  Jupiter  19      vs.      no.10 seed:  Pellucidar  8      

no.6 seed:  The Sun  7      vs.      no.14 seed:  Neptune  2 

no.20 seed:  Comets  8     vs.     no.12 seed:  Vulcan  8     

no.8 seed:  The Asteroids  15      vs.     no.16 seed:  Pluto  7    

Replay necessary between Comets and Vulcan.

SECOND-ROUND REPLAY, 11 JULY 2018:
no.20 seed:  Comets  1     vs.     no.12 seed:  Vulcan  5

quarter-finals, 11-15 july 2018:

no.1 seed:  Mars      vs.     no.5 seed:  Saturn      

no.3 seed:  Titan       vs.     no.7 seed:  Mercury      

no.2 seed:  Jupiter       vs.      no.6 seed:  The Sun 

no.12 seed:  Vulcan      vs.     no.8 seed:  The Asteroids 

After the first day's play:

Mars  6    Saturn  4
Titan  4    Mercury  4
Jupiter  5    The Sun  3
Vulcan  5    The Asteroids  0

After the second day's play:

Mars  8    Saturn  5
Titan  6    Mercury  10
Jupiter  9    The Sun  13
Vulcan  6    The Asteroids  1

After the third day's play:

Mars  20    Saturn  10
Titan  9    Mercury  15
Jupiter  15    The Sun  20
Vulcan  16    The Asteroids  8

After the fourth day's play:

Mars  34    Saturn  13
Titan  13    Mercury  23
Jupiter  20    The Sun  25
Vulcan  23    The Asteroids  13

RESULTS OF THE QUARTER-FINALS, JULY 2018:

no.1 seed:  Mars  39     vs.     no.5 seed:  Saturn  16   

no.3 seed:  Titan  16      vs.     no.7 seed:  Mercury  26    

no.2 seed:  Jupiter  25      vs.      no.6 seed:  The Sun  27

no.12 seed:  Vulcan  26      vs.     no.8 seed:  The Asteroids  15

semi-finals, 16-20 july 2018:

no.1 seed:  Mars       vs.     no.7 seed:  Mercury      

no.6 seed:  The Sun     vs.     no.12 seed:  Vulcan 

After the first day's play:

Mars  3    Mercury  3
The Sun  5    Vulcan  2

After the second day's play:

Mars  9    Mercury  9
The Sun  11    Vulcan  5

After the third day's play:

Mars  14    Mercury  11
The Sun  14    Vulcan  8

After the fourth day's play:

Mars  20    Mercury  13
The Sun  16    Vulcan  10

After the fifth day's play:

SEMI-FINAL RESULTS, 20 JULY 2018:

no.1 seed:  Mars  29      vs.     no.7 seed:  Mercury  19     

no.6 seed:  The Sun  21    vs.     no.12 seed:  Vulcan  17

So, we're in for a Mars - Sun final. 

This is the Solarians' third successive final - a distinction previously achieved only by the Mercurians during November 2016 - January 2017.  The first of those finals was won by Mercury and it remains to be seen whether the Sun can win this one... against a Martian team which appears to have re-discovered its old power.

the final, 21-25 july 2018; result out 26 july:

no.1 seed:  Mars        vs.     no.6 seed:  The Sun 

After the first day's play:
Mars  5    The Sun  3

After the second day's play:
Mars  15    The Sun  7

After the third day's play:
Mars  28    The Sun  10

After the fourth day's play:
Mars  37    The Sun  12

After the fifth and last day's play:

FINAL RESULT, 25 JULY 2018

no.1 seed:  Mars  43     vs.     no.6 seed:  The Sun  13

So the winner of the 23rd Interplanetary Knock-Out championship, July 2018, is

Mars

Tars Tarkas, guaranteed to impress the crowd in Ceres Stadium (he is fifteen feet tall, after all), strode forth to hold up the trophy.  Martians intermingled their cheers with mutters of "About time, too" - it is nine months since the team last won the championship, and there is a feeling that this long delay is against the natural order of things.  The people of the Red Planet feel about the IKO as the Brazilians feel about the soccer World Cup - i.e. that a smashing victory is the very least they ought to expect.  (This one was smashing enough; 43 is the highest score ever achieved in an IKO Final.)  In the Martian view, therefore, it was high time they won it again, and moreover they ought now to win it again and again without further delay, so as to surpass those interlopers the Venusians who by some strange means have won more championships than the Martians.

The tall of trophies now is as follows:  6 for Venus, 5 for Mars, 4 for Mercury, 2 each for the Asteroids, Jupiter and Saturn, and 1 each for Vulcan and Titan.

The poor Solarians, like the Dutch in the soccer World Cup, must endure being defeated finalists three times, with no trophies as yet.

---

june 2018

first round, 1-5 june 2018:

no.1 seed:  Mars  16      vs.     no.17 seed:  Pluto  14 

no.9 seed:  Saturn  25      vs.      no.25 seed:  Umbriel  5 

no.5 seed:  Mercury  20     vs.     no.21 seed:  Ganymede  8

no.13 seed:  Neptune  15     vs.     no. 29 seed:  Pallas  7  

no.3 seed:  The Sun  17     vs.     no.19 seed:  Comets   8

no.11 seed:  The Moon  16     vs      no.27 seed:  Oberon  7

no.7 seed:  Vulcan  20    vs.     no.23 seed:  Callisto  16  

no.15 seed:  Asteroid Progenitor Planet  11     vs.     no.31 seed:  Ariel  7

no.2 seed:  Venus  15      vs.      no.18 seed:  Iapetus  18  

no.10 seed:  Earth  11     vs       no.26 seed:  Ceres  10 

no.6 seed:  Jupiter  19     vs.      no.22 seed:  Triton  9

no.14 seed:  Uranus  9     vs.     no.30 seed:  Titania  10  

no. 4 seed:  The Asteroids  16    vs.      no.20 seed:  The Reefs of Space  8

no.12 seed:  Pellucidar  15     vs.     no.28 seed:  Io  8 

no.8 seed:  Titan  18     vs.     no.24 seed:  Europa  8

no.16 seed:  Amalthea  10     vs.     no.32 seed:  Styx  9

second round, 6-10 june 2018:

no.1 seed:  Mars  17    vs.     no.9 seed:  Saturn  18   

no.5 seed:  Mercury  15     vs.     no.13 seed:  Neptune  9    

no.3 seed:  The Sun  15   vs.     no.11 seed:  The Moon  14 

no.7 seed:  Vulcan  10    vs.     no.15 seed:  Asteroid Progenitor Planet  9    

no.18 seed:  Iapetus  7     vs.     no.10 seed:  Earth  17

no.6 seed:  Jupiter  17      vs.      no.30 seed:  Titania  0

no. 4 seed:  The Asteroids  16     vs.      no.12 seed:  Pellucidar  13

no.8 seed:  Titan  11      vs.     no.16 seed:  Amalthea  3

After the sensational Round One defeat of mighty Venus by Iapetus, Round Two has seen the further surprise of those same Iapetans' robust defeat by the Blue Planet, Earth.

quarter-finals, 11-15 june 2018:

no.9 seed:  Saturn      vs.     no.5 seed:  Mercury      

no.3 seed:  The Sun       vs.     no.7 seed:  Vulcan      

no.10 seed:  Earth      vs.      no.6 seed:  Jupiter       

no. 4 seed:  The Asteroids       vs.     no.8 seed:  Titan      

After the first day's play:

Saturn  2    Mercury  3
The Sun  3    Vulcan  2
Earth  1    Jupiter  4
The Asteroids  1    Titan  2

After the second day's play:

Saturn  4    Mercury  5
The Sun  6    Vulcan  4
Earth  2    Jupiter  7
The Asteroids  4    Titan  7

After the third day's play:

Saturn  6    Mercury  6
The Sun  10    Vulcan  7
Earth  6    Jupiter  12
The Asteroids  7    Titan  11

After the fourth day's play:

Saturn  14    Mercury  13
The Sun  14    Vulcan  12
Earth  9    Jupiter  21
The Asteroids  12    Titan  17

After the fifth day's play:

QUARTER-FINAL RESULTS, JUNE 2018:

no.9 seed:  Saturn  15     vs.     no.5 seed:  Mercury  16    

no.3 seed:  The Sun  16     vs.     no.7 seed:  Vulcan   14   

no.10 seed:  Earth  11    vs.      no.6 seed:  Jupiter  22     

no. 4 seed:  The Asteroids  14     vs.     no.8 seed:  Titan  19    

That Saturn-Mercury match was a cliff-hanging epic, with two overtakings.  Since Mercury won, we're in for a Mercury-Sun semi-final match with the same contestants as last month's final.

And now, for the time time since last September, we have a semi-final line-up which includes two teams who have not yet won the championship.

semi-finals, 16-20 june 2018:

no.5 seed:  Mercury     vs.     no.3 seed:  The Sun 

no.6 seed:  Jupiter       vs.     no.8 seed:  Titan 

After the first day's play:

Mercury  3    The Sun  2
Jupiter  3    Titan  2

After the second day's play:

Mercury  6    The Sun  5
Jupiter  11    Titan  6

After the third day's play:

Mercury  10    The Sun  9
Jupiter  16    Titan  30

Shock Titanic Surge Stuns System.

After the fourth day's play:

Mercury  13    The Sun  16
Jupiter  25    Titan  38

Another overtaking, in this unprecedentedly dramatic semi-final.  It looks as though, for the first time since February 2017 (i.e. fourteen competitions ago), we may get a final in which both teams have not previously won a trophy.  In other words, a final which is bound to give us a new first-time champion.  We shall shortly see...

It's worth noting, though, that the Mercurians - even if they get knocked out this round - can take satisfaction in having achieved the longest run of victories (13 in a row) in the history of the tournament.  (Venus, after winning two consecutive trophies in December 2016 and January 2017, got knocked out in the Feb quarter-finals; thus their run was 12 victories in a row.)

After the fifth day's play -

SEMI-FINAL RESULTS, JUNE 2018:

no.5 seed:  Mercury  14     vs.     no.3 seed:  The Sun  24  

no.6 seed:  Jupiter  28     vs.     no.8 seed:  Titan  46  

So it has happened.  This result has really set the System buzzing.  Now we're in for a final in which, whatever happens, we'll have a new first-time champ.

Just goes to show - anything can happen when you get surges...

the final, 21-25 june 2018; result out 26 june:

no.3 seed:  The Sun      vs.     no.8 seed:  Titan 

After the first day's play:
The Sun  0    Titan  1

After the second day's play:
The Sun  5    Titan  8 

After the third day's play:
The Sun  10    Titan  10

After the fourth day's play:
The Sun  10    Titan  13

After the fifth and last day's play -

no.3 seed:  The Sun  13    vs.     no.8 seed:  Titan  14 

So the winner of the 22nd Interplanetary Knock-Out championship, June 2018, is

Titan

All the methane monsters are bubbling like mad, and snowy ant-like creatures cavorting in unison with them, plus a crowd of other Titanics of all shapes and sizes as all the OSS versions of that Saturnian moon join in to celebrate their momentous win.  The inhabitants of other moons are happy too, for this is the long-awaited occasion - the first time a satellite has won the championship.  Some doubters thought it would never happen, but here we are at Ceres Stadium applauding the furry Harper of Titan as it waves the System Trophy aloft.

Sure, the win was narrow - but so was their loss, likewise by just one point, in their final against Mars exactly a year ago.

The tally of trophies is now as follows: 6 for Venus, 4 each for Mercury and Mars, 2 each for the Asteroids, Jupiter and Saturn, and 1 each for Vulcan and Titan.

---

may 2018

first round, 1-5 may 2018:

no.1 seed:  Venus  23     vs.     no.17 seed:  Neptune  13

no.9 seed:  Earth  16     vs.      no.25 seed:  Oberon  4

no.5 seed:  Jupiter  12    vs.     no.21 seed:  Ganymede  3 

no.13 seed:  Uranus  12    vs.     no. 29 seed:  Umbriel  5 

no.3 seed:  Mercury  14     vs.     no.19 seed:  Callisto  6 

no.11 seed:  Iapetus  11     vs      no.27 seed:  Ceres  5 

no.7 seed:  Pellucidar  14    vs.     no.23 seed:  Europa  4 

no.15 seed:  Titan  12     vs.     no.31 seed:  Ariel  2 

no.2 seed:  Mars  16     vs.      no.18 seed:  Amalthea  9 

no.10 seed:  The Moon  12     vs       no.26 seed:  Titania  3 

no.6 seed:  The Asteroids  17     vs.      no.22 seed:  Triton  11 

no.14 seed:  The Reefs of Space  7     vs.     no.30 seed:  Leda  3 

no. 4 seed:  Saturn  15    vs.      no.20 seed:  Comets  9

no.12 seed:  Vulcan  14      vs.     no.28 seed:  Pallas  5 

no.8 seed:  The Sun  12     vs.     no.24 seed:  Io  4 

no.16 seed:  Pluto  10    vs.     no.32 seed:  Styx  4
 

second round, 6-10 may 2018:

no.1 seed:  Venus  34     vs.     no.9 seed:  Earth  21    

no.5 seed:  Jupiter  25    vs.     no.13 seed:  Uranus  18    

no.3 seed:  Mercury  18     vs.     no.11 seed:  Iapetus  13     

no.7 seed:  Pellucidar  23    vs.     no.15 seed:  Titan  23     

no.2 seed:  Mars  29     vs.      no.10 seed:  The Moon  25     

no.6 seed:  The Asteroids  30     no.14 seed:  The Reefs of Space  16     

no. 4 seed:  Saturn  19    vs.      no.12 seed:  Vulcan  20     

no.8 seed:  The Sun  18     vs.     no.16 seed:  Pluto  16    

Re-play needed between Pellucidar and Titan after their unusually high-scoring draw...

SECOND-ROUND REPLAY, 11 MAY 2018:

no.7 seed:  Pellucidar  3    vs.     no.15 seed:  Titan  2

quarter-finals, 11-15 may 2018:

no.1 seed:  Venus       vs.     no.5 seed:  Jupiter     

no.3 seed:  Mercury       vs.     no.7 seed:  Pellucidar     

no.2 seed:  Mars       vs.      no.6 seed:  The Asteroids 

no.12 seed:  Vulcan       vs.     no.8 seed:  The Sun 

After the first day's play:

Venus  3    Jupiter  0
Mercury  6    Pellucidar  3
Mars  2    Asteroids  2
Vulcan  4    Sun  4

After the second day's play:

Venus  7    Jupiter  3
Mercury  7    Pellucidar  6
Mars  3    Asteroids  3
Vulcan  7    Sun  5

After the third day's play:

Venus  11    Jupiter  3
Mercury  14    Pellucidar  7
Mars  4    Asteroids  5
Vulcan  10    Sun  8

After the fourth day's play:

Venus  19    Jupiter  11
Mercury  20    Pellucidar  11
Mars  24    Asteroids  14
Vulcan  14    Sun  17

Two dramatic overtakings - the Martian surge really one for the books.

After the fifth day's play:

QUARTER-FINAL RESULTS, MAY 2018

no.1 seed:  Venus  22     vs.     no.5 seed:  Jupiter  18  

no.3 seed:  Mercury  24     vs.     no.7 seed:  Pellucidar  15   

no.2 seed:  Mars  34     vs.      no.6 seed:  The Asteroids  20

no.12 seed:  Vulcan  16    vs.     no.8 seed:  The Sun  23

semi-finals, 16-20 may 2018:

no.1 seed:  Venus       vs.     no.3 seed:  Mercury      

no.2 seed:  Mars         vs.      no.8 seed:  The Sun

After the first day's play:

Venus  2    Mercury  4
Mars  3    The Sun  1

After the second day's play:

Venus  3    Mercury  7
Mars  5    The Sun  4

After the third day's play:

Venus  5    Mercury  13
Mars  10    The Sun  6

After the fourth day's play:

Venus  5    Mercury  17
Mars  10    The Sun  6

After the fifth day's play:

SEMI-FINAL RESULTS, MAY 2018

no.1 seed:  Venus  6   vs.     no.3 seed:  Mercury  20

no.2 seed:  Mars 11    vs.      no.8 seed:  The Sun  21

The shock to end all shocks - the Solarian surge!  The odds against Arbol beating Malacandra were in the 1000's-to-1.  But it has happened.  It just goes to show, the timing of surges is crucial, and that anything can happen in a knock-out competition.

The reigning champions, the Mercurians, are also doing remarkably well this year, having reached their third final in 5 months, and being in reach of their third championship in that period; moreover, on their way up they've just beaten six-times-champions Venus.

The final is going to be furnace-hot.  The only possible hotter one would have been a Sun-Vulcan final...

the final, 21-25 may 2018:

no.3 seed:  Mercury      vs.      no.8 seed:  The Sun  

After the first day's play:
Mercury  4    The Sun  3

After the second day's play:
Mercury  6    The Sun  6

After the third day's play:
Mercury  8    The Sun  8

After the fourth day's play:
Mercury  12    The Sun  11

After the fifth and last day's play:

no.3 seed:  Mercury  17    vs.      no.8 seed:  The Sun  14 

So the winner of the 21st Interplanetary Knock-Out championship, May 2018, is

Mercury

Had the Sun won, there would have been an explosion of interest in the addition to the Hall of Fame.  Since victory went to the Mercurians, the focus now is on them, and this result is likewise interesting: a fourth championship for the little world that now equals mighty Mars in the number of trophies (4), must say something significant about.. er... something.  Like, perhaps, small worlds compensate by being crowded with closeness to the Infinite, which presses down upon their close horizons in the sense conveyed in Valeddom. 

Meanwhile, all eyes rest on the podium where James Baron - taking time off before his optimistic attempt to make a Brightside Crossing - lifts the trophy on behalf of all Mercury's explorers.

The System distribution of trophies is now: 6 for Venus, 4 each for Mercury and Mars, 2 each for the Asteroids, Jupiter and Saturn, and 1 for Vulcan.

---

april 2018

first round, 1-5 april 2018

no.1 seed:  Jupiter  13     vs.     no.17 seed:  Pluto  8

no.9 seed:  Earth  16     vs.      no.25 seed:  Io  5

no.5 seed:  Iapetus   20     vs.     no.21 seed:  Europa  10 

no.13 seed:  Amalthea  14    vs.     no. 29 seed:  Styx  6 

no.3 seed:  Mars  14     vs.     no.19 seed:  The Reefs of Space  12

no.11 seed:  Pellucidar  19     vs      no.27 seed:  Titania  4 

no.7 seed:  Mercury  18     vs.     no.23 seed:  Ganymede  7 

no.15 seed:  Triton  8      vs.     no.31 seed:  Leda  5 

no.2 seed:  Venus  19      vs.      no.18 seed:  Neptune  8 

no.10 seed:  The Sun  17    vs       no.26 seed:  Oberon  5 

no.6 seed:  Saturn  13     vs.      no.22 seed:  Callisto11 

no.14 seed:  Uranus  13     vs.     no.30 seed:  Umbriel  4 

no. 4 seed:  The Asteroids  13    vs.      no.20 seed:  Comets  9

no.12 seed:  Vulcan  14       vs.     no.28 seed:  Cerberus  4 

no.8 seed:  The Moon  12      vs.     no.24 seed:  Ceres  5 

no.16 seed:  Titan 14      vs.     no.32 seed:  Ariel  5 

second round, 6-10 april 2018:

no.1 seed:  Jupiter  24     vs.     no.9 seed:  Earth  15

no.5 seed:  Iapetus  18     vs.     no.13 seed:  Amalthea  10

no.3 seed:  Mars  18     vs.     no.11 seed:  Pellucidar  15  

no.7 seed:  Mercury  15     vs.     no.15 seed:  Triton  12

no.2 seed:  Venus  15      vs.      no.10 seed:  The Sun  16

no.6 seed:  Saturn  20      vs.      no.14 seed:  Uranus  16

no. 4 seed:  The Asteroids  17    vs.      no.12 seed:  Vulcan  13

no.8 seed:  The Moon  15     vs.     no.16 seed:  Titan  9   

One fantastic upset - the champions Venus knocked out by the Solarians in a close-fought match. 

quarter-finals, 11-15 april 2018:

no.1 seed:  Jupiter       vs.     no.5 seed:  Iapetus  

no.3 seed:  Mars       vs.     no.7 seed:  Mercury      

no.10 seed:  The Sun        vs.     no.6 seed:  Saturn 

no. 4 seed:  The Asteroids         vs.      no.8 seed:  The Moon 

After the first day's play:

Jupiter  3    Iapetus  7
Mars  3    Mercury  3
The Sun  3    Saturn  5
The Asteroids  5    The Moon  2

After the second day's play:

Jupiter  14    Iapetus  14
Mars  8    Mercury  8
The Sun  8    Saturn  10
The Asteroids  7    The Moon  6

After the third day's play:

Jupiter  17    Iapetus  14
Mars  14    Mercury  16
The Sun  15    Saturn  13
The Asteroids  15    The Moon  11

After the fourth day's play:

Jupiter  20    Iapetus  15
Mars  18    Mercury  17
The Sun  16    Saturn  16
The Asteroids  16    The Moon  14

After the fifth day's play:

QUARTER-FINAL RESULTS, APRIL 2018:

no.1 seed:  Jupiter  20     vs.     no.5 seed:  Iapetus  16

no.3 seed:  Mars  20      vs.     no.7 seed:  Mercury  25    

no.10 seed:  The Sun  16      vs.     no.6 seed:  Saturn  17

no. 4 seed:  The Asteroids  17       vs.      no.8 seed:  The Moon  15

This has been a superb semi-final, with its catch-ups and overtakes and close runs and a dramatic late surge by Mercury to beat the Martians.  And now, amazingly, we have a semi-final round in which all four contenders have won the trophy exactly twice before.

semi-finals, 16-20 april 2018:

no.1 seed:  Jupiter      vs.     no.7 seed:  Mercury     

no.6 seed:  Saturn       vs.      no. 4 seed:  The Asteroids 

After the first day's play:

Jupiter  7    Mercury  5
Saturn  5    The Asteroids  3

After the second day's play:

Jupiter  7    Mercury  8
Saturn  6    The Asteroids  7

After the third day's play:

Jupiter  9    Mercury  12
Saturn  12    The Asteroids  8

After the fourth day's play:

Jupiter  9    Mercury  15
Saturn  12    The Asteroids  10

After the fifth day's play:

SEMI-FINAL RESULTS, APRIL 2018

no.1 seed:  Jupiter  11   vs.     no.7 seed:  Mercury  16   

no.6 seed:  Saturn 14     vs.      no. 4 seed:  The Asteroids  12

the final, 21-25 april 2018:

no.7 seed:  Mercury       vs.      no.6 seed:  Saturn

After the first day's play:
Mercury  3    Saturn  1

After the second day's play:
Mercury  5    Saturn  3 

After the third day's play:
Mercury  9    Saturn  5

 
After the fourth day's play:
Mercury  10    Saturn  7

After the fifth and final day's play:

no.7 seed:  Mercury  16     vs.      no.6 seed:  Saturn  13

So the winner of the April 2018 Interplanetary Knock-Out is

Mercury

Lonely crystal entities from Darkside, salamandrine lizards from Hotside and telemorphic humans from the Twilight Belt tinkle, creep and jostle to the front of the crowd at Ceres Stadium to watch Toach Mnuvax of Vutu hold aloft Mercury's third IKO trophy.

After twenty tournaments the score of championships is now:

6 trophies for Venus, 4 for Mars, 3 for Mercury, 2 each for the Asteroids, Jupiter and Saturn, and 1 for Vulcan.

---

march 2018

first round, 1-5 march 2018:

no.1 seed:  Jupiter  26     vs.     no.17 seed:  The Reefs of Space  8 

no.9 seed:  The Sun  13     vs.      no.25 seed:  Ganymede  8 

no.5 seed:  Mars  19     vs.     no.21 seed:  Ceres  9 

no.13 seed:  Titan  8     vs.     no. 29 seed:  Styx  6 

no.3 seed:  Saturn  16     vs.     no.19 seed:  Amalthea  14 

no.11 seed:  Earth  15     vs      no.27 seed:  Oberon  5 

no.7 seed:  The Asteroids   20     vs.     no.23 seed:  Callisto  7 

no.15 seed:  Triton  15      vs.     no.31 seed:  Cerberus  5 

no.2 seed:  Iapetus  24      vs.      no.18 seed:  Comets  13 

no.10 seed:  The Moon  18     vs       no.26 seed:  Umbriel  6 

no.6 seed:  Venus  22      vs.      no.22 seed:  Europa  7 

no.14 seed:  Pluto  13     vs.     no.30 seed:  Ariel  6 

no. 4 seed:  Mercury  21    vs.      no.20 seed:  Pallas  8

no.12 seed:  Uranus  8     vs.     no.28 seed:  Titania  8 

no.8 seed:  Vulcan  13    vs.     no.24 seed:  Io  8 

no.16 seed:  Neptune  10     vs.     no.32 seed:  Leda  6 

The Uranians were unexpectedly held to a draw by the team from their planet's own moon Titania, so a replay will be necessary.

It's worth a note that the two highest scorers in this first round were the previous month's finalists, Jupiter and Iapetus.  It just goes to show, continuity can make itself felt, despite the chancy nature of a knock-out tournament.

REPLAY OF FIRST-ROUND MATCH, 6 MARCH 2018:

no.12 seed:  Uranus  8     vs.     no.28 seed:  Titania  2

second round, 6-10 march 2018:

no.1 seed:  Jupiter  32     vs.     no.9 seed:  The Sun  25     

no.5 seed:  Mars  22     vs.     no.13 seed:  Titan  14

no.3 seed:  Saturn  26     vs.     no.11 seed:  Earth  20 

no.7 seed:  The Asteroids  29     vs.     no.15 seed:  Triton  14 

no.2 seed:  Iapetus  24     vs.      no.10 seed:  The Moon  22

no.6 seed:  Venus  27      vs.      no.14 seed:  Pluto  17 

no. 4 seed:  Mercury  26    vs.      no.12 seed:  Uranus  22 

no.8 seed:  Vulcan  19    vs.     no.16 seed:  Neptune  15

quarter-finals, 11-15 march 2018:

no.1 seed:  Jupiter       vs.     no.5 seed:  Mars  

no.3 seed:  Saturn       vs.     no.7 seed:  The Asteroids  

no.2 seed:  Iapetus        vs.      no.6 seed:  Venus  

no. 4 seed:  Mercury      vs.      no.8 seed:  Vulcan

After the first day's play:

Jupiter  4    Mars  6
Saturn  4    The Asteroids  2
Iapetus  5    Venus  3
Mercury  1    Vulcan  3

After the second day's play:

Jupiter  7    Mars  10
Saturn  7    The Asteroids  5
Iapetus  7    Venus  3
Mercury  3    Vulcan  5

After the third day's play:

Jupiter  7    Mars  15
Saturn  8    The Asteroids  5
Iapetus  9    Venus  3
Mercury  7    Vulcan  5

After the fourth day's play:

Jupiter  12    Mars  22
Saturn  16    The Asteroids  8
Iapetus  9    Venus  9
Mercury  14    Vulcan  6

After the fifth day's play:

QUARTER-FINAL RESULTS, 15 MARCH 2018:

no.1 seed:  Jupiter  17      vs.     no.5 seed:  Mars  27

no.3 seed:  Saturn  20     vs.     no.7 seed:  The Asteroids  13

no.2 seed:  Iapetus  13      vs.      no.6 seed:  Venus  16 

no. 4 seed:  Mercury  19      vs.      no.8 seed:  Vulcan 11

An eye-brow-lifting round.  Most people had put their money on the Jovians, who were the big scorers in the first two rounds, but now a Martian resurgence has knocked out the champions, to give the Red Planet team their first semi-final place since four tournaments ago.  Meanwhile the Venusians, historically the mightiest team with five championships to their credit, came up from behind to beat last month's second-placed Iapetans.

semi-finals, 16-20 march 2018:

no.5 seed:  Mars       vs.      no.3 seed:  Saturn 

no.6 seed:  Venus       vs.      no. 4 seed:  Mercury 

After the first day's play:

Mars  1    Saturn  2
Venus  4    Mercury  2

After the second day's play:

Mars  7    Saturn  5
Venus  9    Mercury  5

After the third day's play:

Mars  13    Saturn  10
Venus  13    Mercury  7

After the fourth day's play:

Mars  17    Saturn  14
Venus  19    Mercury  11

After the fifth day's play:

SEMI-FINAL RESULTS, 20 MARCH 2018

no.5 seed:  Mars  21     vs.      no.3 seed:  Saturn  17

no.6 seed:  Venus  23     vs.      no. 4 seed:  Mercury  18

the final, 21-25 march 2018:

no.5 seed:  Mars       vs.      no.6 seed:  Venus 

So we have a final with the two big hitters, Mars and Venus, like we did last October (which Mars won) and last July (which Venus won).  This time, both planets seem equally on form; a case of the irresistible force versus the immovable object - whichever is which.

After the first day's play:
Mars  4    Venus  4

After the second day's play:
Mars  5    Venus  8

After the third day's play:
Mars  7    Venus  14

After the fourth day's play:
Mars  9    Venus  19

After the fifth and last day's play:

THE FINAL RESULT, 25 MARCH 2018:

no.5 seed:  Mars  12     vs.      no.6 seed:  Venus  23

So the winner of the March 2018 Interplanetary Knock-Out is

Venus

Having won for the sixth time, the Venusians have truly established their dominance of the tournament - six tropies out of nineteen; almost a third of the total.

The beautiful princess Duare once more takes the trophy and holds it aloft to frantic cheers from a crowd of supporters from the Planet of Love.  Even the fish-men of Myposa flap their gills in appreciation.

The championship-count now stands as follows:  6 for Venus, 4 for Mars, 2 each for Mercury, the Asteroids, Jupiter and Saturn, and 1 for Vulcan.

We are left with a puzzle: why have the results been weighted in this way?  How come Venus has done markedly better than its great rival Mars?  After a night of heated debate in the taverns of the System, among pundits hunched over their tankards of segir, no theory has yet become widely accepted - except on Venus, of course.

---

february 2018

first round, 1-5 february 2018:

no.1 seed:  Io  5     vs.     no.17 seed:  Pellucidar  9 

no.9 seed:  Mars  19      vs.      no.25 seed:  Ganymede  7 

no.5 seed:  Iapetus  18      vs.     no.21 seed:  Pallas  11 

no.13 seed:  The Moon  14     vs.     no. 29 seed:  Titania  4 

no.3 seed:  Mercury  16      vs.     no.19 seed:  Triton  8   

no.11 seed:  Uranus  19     vs      no.27 seed:  Ariel  2 

no.7 seed:  Titan  11     vs.     no.23 seed:  Europa  9 

no.15 seed:  Vulcan  13      vs.     no.31 seed:  Leda  2 

no.2 seed:  Neptune  13     vs.      no.18 seed:  The Reefs of Space  9

no.10 seed:  Earth  13     vs       no.26 seed:  Callisto  5 

no.6 seed:  Venus  12      vs.      no.22 seed:  Comets  10

no.14 seed:  The Sun  15     vs.     no.30 seed:  Umbriel  9 

no. 4 seed:  Jupiter  24    vs.      no.20 seed:  Pluto  18  

no.12 seed:  The Asteroids  15     vs.     no.28 seed:  Ceres  6 

no.8 seed:  Saturn  15    vs.     no.24 seed:  Oberon  4 

no.16 seed:  Amalthea  7     vs.     no.32 seed:  Cerberus  1 

second round, 6-10 february 2018:

no.17 seed:  Pellucidar  9       vs.      no.9 seed:  Mars  14

no.5 seed:  Iapetus  24           vs.     no.13 seed:  The Moon  17 

no.3 seed:  Mercury  22      vs.     no.11 seed:  Uranus  7

no.7 seed:  Titan  13     vs.     no.15 seed:  Vulcan  22

no.2 seed:  Neptune  7     vs.      no.10 seed:  Earth  12 

no.6 seed:  Venus  17      vs.      no.14 seed:  The Sun  16

no. 4 seed:  Jupiter  28    vs.      no.12 seed:  The Asteroids  11    

no.8 seed:  Saturn  25    vs.     no.16 seed:  Amalthea  10     

quarter-finals, 11-15 february 2018:

no.9 seed:  Mars        vs.       no.5 seed:  Iapetus            

no.3 seed:  Mercury        vs.       no.15 seed:  Vulcan  

no.10 seed:  Earth      vs.       no.6 seed:  Venus 

no. 4 seed:  Jupiter     vs.       no.8 seed:  Saturn       

After the first day's play:

Mars  2    Iapetus  6
Mercury  2    Vulcan  4
Earth  1    Venus  2
Jupiter  3    Saturn  2

After the second day's play:

Mars  7    Iapetus  7
Mercury  7    Vulcan  9
Earth  6    Venus  8
Jupiter  5    Saturn  2

After the third day's play:

Mars  9   Iapetus  7
Mercury  8    Vulcan  13
Earth  8    Venus  10
Jupiter  9    Saturn  3

After the fourth day's play:

Mars  15   Iapetus  11
Mercury  11    Vulcan  17
Earth  11    Venus  14
Jupiter  23    Saturn  8

After the fifth day's play the February 2018 quarter-final results are:

no.9 seed:  Mars  18      vs.       no.5 seed:  Iapetus  21          

no.3 seed:  Mercury  17      vs.       no.15 seed:  Vulcan  19

no.10 seed:  Earth  14      vs.       no.6 seed:  Venus  17

no. 4 seed:  Jupiter  27    vs.       no.8 seed:  Saturn  15      

semi-finals, 16-20 february 2018:

no.5 seed:  Iapetus        vs.       no.15 seed:  Vulcan  

no.6 seed:  Venus      vs.       no. 4 seed:  Jupiter        

After the first day's play: 

Iapetus  0    Vulcan  1
Venus  1    Jupiter  3

After the second day's play: 

Iapetus  1    Vulcan  2
Venus  2    Jupiter  5

After the third day's play: 

Iapetus  6    Vulcan  5
Venus  5    Jupiter  13

After the fourth day's play: 

Iapetus  9    Vulcan  7
Venus  9    Jupiter  16

SEMI-FINAL RESULTS, 21 FEB 2018:

no.5 seed:  Iapetus  13      vs.       no.15 seed:  Vulcan  10 

no.6 seed:  Venus  12     vs.       no. 4 seed:  Jupiter  19      

So we're in for a Iapetus-Jupiter final.  And this is the first entirely Outer-Solar-System final ever!  (The nearest earlier approach to one was in last September, when we had an Asteroids-Saturn final, but the Asteroids aren't exactly "Outer", they're more "in between".)

the final, 21-25 february 2018:

no.5 seed:  Iapetus        vs.       no. 4 seed:  Jupiter 

After the first day's play:

Iapetus  8    Jupiter  11

After the second day's play:

Iapetus  11    Jupiter  14

After the third day's play:

Iapetus  17    Jupiter  19

After the fourth day's play:

Iapetus  20    Jupiter  22

After the fifth and last day's play:

no.5 seed:  Iapetus  22      vs.       no. 4 seed:  Jupiter  24 

So the winner of the February 2018 Interplanetary Knock-Out is

Jupiter

So at last, in the 18th competition, the Giant Planet regains the trophy which it won in the very first Interplanetary Knock-Out, way back in September 2016.  And about time, grumble the Skeleton Men.  Vorion holds aloft the Orrery while a crowd of Morgors snap their jaws in triumph.  Other species of Jovian jostle in front of the cameras, demanding recognition - including stocky flipper-men and tank-shaped creatures... while newsmen take the opportunity to ask pointed questions about the whereabouts of John Carter.

Meanwhile the Iapetans, by common agreement, deserve a big round of applause as the runners-up.  A mere moon got within 3 points of the championship.  It's only a matter of time, pundits agree, before it happens.  Iapetus, or Titan, or Earth's Moon will surely get it eventually.  The pundits have been expressing such opinions for quite a while. 

Regarding the number of trophies won, the score now stands as follows:

5 for Venus; 4 for Mars; 2 each for Mercury, The Asteroids, Jupiter and Saturn; 1 for Vulcan.

---

january 2018

first round, 1-5 january 2018; results out 6 jan:

no.1 seed:  Io  82     vs.     no.17 seed:  Neptune  28 

no.9 seed:  Saturn  12    vs.     no.25 seed:  Europa  6 

no.5 seed:  Mercury  7    vs.     no.21 seed:  Comets  4 

no.13 seed:  Vulcan  7    vs.     no. 29 seed:  Ariel  4 

no.3 seed:  The Asteroids  6  vs.     no.19 seed:  Amalthea  12 

no.11 seed:  Jupiter  14    vs      no.27 seed:  Pallas  5 

no.7 seed:  The Moon  6    vs.     no.23 seed:  Oberon  6 

no.15 seed:  Uranus  8    vs.     no.31 seed:  Styx  2 

no.2 seed:  Venus  10    vs.      no.18 seed:  Triton  6 

no.10 seed:  Pellucidar  9    vs       no.26 seed:  Umbriel  3

no.6 seed:  Earth  7   vs.      no.22 seed:  Ganymede  2

no.14 seed:  The Reefs of Space  4    vs.     no.30 seed:  Titania  4 

no. 4 seed:  Mars  11    vs.      no.20 seed:  Pluto  5 

no.12 seed:  Titan  21    vs.     no.28 seed:  Ceres  3

no.8 seed:  The Sun  10    vs.     no.24 seed:  Callisto  3 

no.16 seed:  Iapetus  9     vs.     no.32 seed:  Cerberus  3 

That the team from Io, until now one of the duds of the competition (the Ionians had only ever won 2 games before this) should now smash the record for highest score, which used to be 52 and is now 82...  well, it has set the System's sports commentariat into spasms of hyperbolic superlatives.  It just goes to show: anything can happen.  Anything.

For instance, former champions the Asteroids being beaten by Amalthea...

On another note: we'll have to have replays of the drawn clashes, namely The Moon vs Oberon and The Reefs of Space vs Titania.

6 JANUARY 2018 REPLAYS OF DRAWN FIRST-ROUND MATCHES:

no.7 seed:  The Moon  1    vs.     no.23 seed:  Oberon  1

no.14 seed:  The Reefs of Space  1   vs.     no.30 seed:  Titania  1

These teams seem determined to draw with each other!  Another try must therefore be scheduled for the next day.

7 JANUARY 2018 REPLAYS OF DRAWN FIRST-ROUND MATCHES:

no.7 seed:  The Moon  3    vs.     no.23 seed:  Oberon  1

no.14 seed: The Reefs of Space  3   vs.     no.30 seed:  Titania  1

Again, somewhat improbably symmetrical scores, but this time giving a decision - to general relief.

second round, 6-10 january 2018:

no.1 seed:  Io  31     vs.     no.9 seed:  Saturn  14 

no.5 seed:  Mercury  16     vs.     no.13 seed:  Vulcan  7   

no.19 seed:  Amalthea   5      vs.      no.11 seed:  Jupiter  14 

no.7 seed:  The Moon  7      vs.     no.15 seed:  Uranus  7 

no.2 seed:  Venus  13    vs.      no.10 seed:  Pellucidar  4 

no.6 seed:  Earth   9     vs.      no.14 seed:  The Reefs of Space  9

no. 4 seed:  Mars  8      vs.      no.12 seed:  Titan  14 

no.8 seed:  The Sun  7  vs.     no.16 seed: Iapetus  18 

So, replays are needed for Moon vs Uranus, and Earth vs the Reefs.  Quirky coincidence that the Moon and the Reefs once again drew with their opponents, as they did in the previous round.

The victory of the Titanics over the Martians has injected some extra excitement into the tournament, as has the unprecedented advance of the Ionians into the quarter-finals, where they will confront the Mercurians.  Both are examples of smaller bodies defeating larger (especially so in the case of Io beating Saturn).  Could it be that the future lies with the smaller bodies, as the public gets jaded with the major planets?  On the other hand, the public is always changing too, new page-hitters arriving on the scene continually, and these aren't going to be jaded for a long time yet...

 11 JANUARY 2018 REPLAYS OF DRAWN SECOND-ROUND MATCHES:

no.7 seed:  The Moon  2      vs.     no.15 seed:  Uranus  1

no.6 seed:  Earth  2     vs.      no.14 seed:  The Reefs of Space  1

...again that symmetry - this time two 2-1's.

quarter-finals, 11-15 january 2018:

no.1 seed:  Io       vs.     no.5 seed:  Mercury     

no.11 seed:  Jupiter        vs.      no.7 seed:  The Moon 

no.2 seed:  Venus       vs.      no.6 seed:  Earth  

no.12 seed:  Titan        vs.     no.16 seed:  Iapetus  

After the first day's play:

Io  0    Mercury  3
Jupiter  3    The Moon  2
Venus  2    Earth  2
Titan  4    Iapetus  5

The Ionian Surge appears to have fizzled...  while the Saturnian system is now the highest-scoring scene (but without Saturn itself).  The politicos are scratching their heads...

After the second day's play:

Io  0    Mercury  10
Jupiter  4    The Moon  4
Venus  7    Earth  4
Titan  6    Iapetus  6

After the third day's play:

Io  2    Mercury  19
Jupiter  13    The Moon  7
Venus  10    Earth  5
Titan  12    Iapetus  9

After the fourth day's play:

Io  2    Mercury  22
Jupiter  15    The Moon  7
Venus  11    Earth  6
Titan  15    Iapetus  18

AFTER FIVE DAYS' PLAY:

QUARTER-FINAL RESULTS, JAN 2018:

no.1 seed:  Io  3    vs.     no.5 seed:  Mercury  23    

no.11 seed:  Jupiter  17      vs.      no.7 seed:  The Moon  8  

no.2 seed:  Venus  12      vs.      no.6 seed:  Earth  6

no.12 seed:  Titan  16      vs.     no.16 seed:  Iapetus  20 

SEMI-FINALS, 16-20 JANUARY 2018:

no.5 seed:  Mercury      vs.      no.11 seed:  Jupiter   

no.2 seed:  Venus        vs.     no.16 seed:  Iapetus 

After the first day's play:

Mercury  0    Jupiter  1
Venus  1    Iapetus  0

After the second day's play:

Mercury  6    Jupiter  7
Venus  3    Iapetus  1

After the third day's play:

Mercury  16    Jupiter  12
Venus  8    Iapetus  8

AFTER FIVE DAYS' PLAY:

SEMI-FINAL RESULTS, JAN 2018:

no.5 seed:  Mercury  25    vs.      no.11 seed:  Jupiter  19 

no.2 seed:  Venus  16      vs.     no.16 seed:  Iapetus  15

Harlei:  Oh no not another Mercury-Venus final...  Stid:  What does it matter?  Zendexor:  Be positive, both of you! - it must mean something worth knowing.  We're in a period of Inner Solar System predominance, looks like...  Harlei:  But let's hope we don't get a Venusian walk-over like the previous final.  Zendexor:  No reason why it should be, with the Mercurians the highest scorers in both the quarter- and semi-finals.  This could be "Mercury's hour".

the final, 21-25 january 2018:

no.5 seed:  Mercury      vs.      no.2 seed:  Venus  

After the first day's play:
Mercury  4    Venus  3

After the second day's play:
Mercury  7    Venus  5

After the third day's play:
Mercury  11    Venus  6

After the fourth day's play:

Mercury  16    Venus  11

After the fifth and last day's play:

no.5 seed:  Mercury  19  vs.      no.2 seed:  Venus  15

So the winner of the January 2018 Interplanetary Knock-Out is

Mercury

Since their last championship win, fourteen competitions ago, the Mercurians have suffered disappointment after disappointment, but now at last they have reclaimed the trophy.  The Inner Planet's Twilight Belt glows with runnels of molten lead imported from Hotside to trace out the curlicues in the Noleddern script that proclaim, "We did it!"  Toach Mnuvax of Vutu - captain of the team - receives the OSS Orrery at the hands of Archon Zendexor at Ceres stadium, and holds it aloft while crystalline beings from Coldside (who are most comfortable in Cerian conditions) wave their appendages from the stadium's periphery...

The trophy-win totals, world by world, are now as follows:

5 for Venus; 4 for Mars; 2 each for Mercury, the Asteroids and Saturn; 1 each for Vulcan and Jupiter.

---

december 2017

first round, 1-5 december 2017:

no.1 seed:  Venus  16    vs.     no.17 seed:  Triton  4

no.9 seed:  Jupiter  10    vs.     no.25 seed:  Ceres  2

no.5 seed: Titan  10    vs.     no.21 seed:  Comets  6

no.13 seed:  Uranus  11   vs.     no. 29 seed:  Styx  2

no.3 seed:  The Asteroids  16   vs.     no.19 seed:  Neptune  9

no.11 seed:  The Moon  12    vs      no.27 seed:  Pallas  2

no.7 seed:  Earth  12     vs.     no.23 seed:  Europa  2

no.15 seed:  Amalthea  7     vs.     no.31 seed:  Io  0

no.2 seed:  Mars  13    vs.      no.18 seed:  Pluto  3

no.10 seed:  Saturn  11    vs       no.26 seed:  Titania  2

no.6 seed:  Mercury  13    vs.      no.22 seed:  Ganymede  4

no.14 seed:  The Sun  14     vs.     no.30 seed:  Ariel  2

no.4 seed:  Pellucidar  12     vs.     no.20 seed:  Oberon  3

no.12 seed:  Iapetus  6    vs.     no.28 seed:  Umbriel  5

no.8 seed:  Vulcan  13    vs.     no.24 seed:  Callisto  3 

no.16 seed:  The Reefs of Space  11     vs.     no.32 seed:  Cerberus  0

second round, 6-10 december 2017:

no.1 seed:  Venus  21    vs.     no.9 seed:  Jupiter  11  

no.5 seed: Titan  12    vs.     no.13 seed:  Uranus  8 

no.3 seed:  The Asteroids  20    vs.     no.11 seed:  The Moon  13 

no.7 seed:  Earth  10     vs.     no.15 seed:  Amalthea  6 

no.2 seed:  Mars  14  vs.      no.10 seed:  Saturn  15

no.6 seed:  Mercury  14    vs.      no.14 seed:  The Sun  10 

no.4 seed:  Pellucidar  11    vs.     no.12 seed:  Iapetus  10

no.8 seed:  Vulcan  12    vs.     no.16 seed:  The Reefs of Space  10

Some close results here, and an unexpected knockout of the mighty Martians by the redoubtable Saturnians.

quarter-finals, 11-15 december:

no.1 seed:  Venus      vs.     no.5 seed: Titan   

no.3 seed:  The Asteroids      vs.     no.7 seed:  Earth 

no.10 seed:  Saturn      vs.     no.6 seed:  Mercury 

no.4 seed:  Pellucidar       vs.     no.8 seed:  Vulcan 

After the first day's play:

Venus  1    Titan  1
The Asteroids  1    Earth  1
Saturn  1    Mercury  4
Pellucidar  2    Vulcan  0

After the second day's play:

Venus  7    Titan  2
The Asteroids  9    Earth  6
Saturn  7    Mercury  10
Pellucidar  8    Vulcan  4

After the third day's play:

Venus  18    Titan  5
The Asteroids  17    Earth  13
Saturn  10    Mercury  20
Pellucidar  15    Vulcan  13

After the fourth day's play:

Venus  20    Titan  7
The Asteroids  19    Earth  16
Saturn  11    Mercury  24
Pellucidar  18    Vulcan  17

QUARTER-FINAL RESULTS, DEC 2017, AFTER FIVE DAYS' PLAY:

no.1 seed:  Venus  25      vs.     no.5 seed: Titan  10 

no.3 seed:  The Asteroids  23     vs.     no.7 seed:  Earth  20 

no.10 seed:  Saturn  16     vs.     no.6 seed:  Mercury  25 

no.4 seed:  Pellucidar  21     vs.     no.8 seed:  Vulcan  21

The dogged Vulcanians having finally caught up to finish the five days neck and neck with the Pellucidarians,  extra time will have to be taken to determine the semi-final line-up.

If the Vulcanians win the play-off, we'll then get, like in October, an all-champions semi-final, i.e. all four teams being previous winners of the trophy.

Meanwhile we're certain to have a Venus-Asteroids semi-final, which looks to be an exceptionally high-scoring, close-fought contest, both teams being currently at the top of their form.

QUARTER-FINAL REPLAY, 16 DEC 2017:

no.4 seed:  Pellucidar  4     vs.     no.8 seed:  Vulcan  1

SEMI-FINALS, 16-20 DECEMBER 2017:

no.1 seed:  Venus        vs.       no.3 seed:  The Asteroids     

no.6 seed:  Mercury      vs.      no.4 seed:  Pellucidar 

After the first day's play:

Venus  5    The Asteroids  2
Mercury  5    Pellucidar  4

After the second day's play:

Venus  12    The Asteroids  5
Mercury  9    Pellucidar  7

After the third day's play:

Venus  17    The Asteroids  9
Mercury  13    Pellucidar  11

After the fourth day's play:

Venus  17    The Asteroids  11
Mercury  13    Pellucidar  11

SEMI-FINAL RESULTS, DECEMBER 2017:

no.1 seed:  Venus  24      vs.       no.3 seed:  The Asteroids  15   

no.6 seed:  Mercury  15    vs.      no.4 seed:  Pellucidar  14 

So the Mercurians won their match with the same score that the Asteroids lost theirs; a slight irony of the sort common to knock-outs.

Now it turns out that we are in for a December Mercury-Venus final, which, by a startling coincidence, is the same line-up as we had in December last year.

On that occasion, December 2016, the Mercurians were the reigning champions and the favourites, yet they went on to lose to the Venusians, who at that date had not yet won a trophy.  This time, December 2017, the Venusians are the favourites...

the final, 21-25 december 2017:

no.1 seed:  Venus        vs.       no.6 seed:  Mercury 

After the first day's play:
Venus  3    Mercury  1

After the second day's play:
Venus  4    Mercury  2

After the third day's play:
Venus  6    Mercury  2

After the fourth day's play:
Venus  7    Mercury  2

After the fifth and last day's  play:

no.1 seed:  Venus  12     vs.       no.6 seed:  Mercury  8

So the winner of the December 2017 Interplanetary Knock-Out is

Venus

A rather low-scoring final, due doubtless to the strain of the previous rounds during the run-up to Christmas.  The exhausted Venusian team staggered onto the dais to receive the trophy - the fifth they have won - and then their captain, Pricess Duare, held it aloft to ragged cheers from the equally exhausted fans. 

The Mercurians meanwhile, though missing the prize, felt a bit better from having rallied somewhat during the fifth and last day of play.

The score of trophies, after this 16th competition, is as follows: Venus 5, Mars 4, the Asteroids and Saturn 2 each, Vulcan, Mercury and Jupiter 1 each.

---

November 2017

first round, 1-5 november 2017:

no.1 seed:  Mars  17     vs.     no.17 seed:  Neptune  2

no.9 seed:  Vulcan  12    vs.     no.25 seed:  Umbriel  2 

no.5 seed: Mercury  9    vs.     no.21 seed:  Titania  3 

no.13 seed:  Iapetus  6   vs.     no. 29 seed:  Io  2 

no.3 seed:  Venus  16     vs.     no.19 seed:  Amalthea  5

no.11 seed:  Earth  11    vs      no.27 seed:  Europa  6

no.7 seed:  Jupiter  12    vs.     no.23 seed:  Pallas  1

no.15 seed:  The Reefs of Space  5     vs.     no.31 seed:  Ariel  2

no.2 seed:  The Sun  9     vs.      no.18 seed:  Comets  4

no.10 seed:  Titan  13     vs       no.26 seed:  Ceres  1 

no.6 seed:  The Moon  9     vs.      no.22 seed:  Callisto  3

no.14 seed:  Uranus  5     vs.     no.30 seed:  Styx  0

no.4 seed:  The Asteroids  8     vs.     no.20 seed:  Pluto  6

no.12 seed:  Pellucidar  7     vs.     no.28 seed:  Ganymede  4

no.8 seed:  Saturn  7    vs.     no.24 seed:  Oberon  6

no.16 seed:  Triton  3   vs.     no.32 seed:  Leda  1

No upsets (though Saturn only just managed to beat Oberon!), and once again all the top 16 seeds won.  But apart from the few at the top it was generally a low-scoring round; perhaps the OSS teams are in need of an interstellar holiday...

second round, 6-10 november 2017:

no.1 seed:  Mars  18     vs.     no.9 seed:  Vulcan  3      

no.5 seed:  Mercury  15     vs.     no.13 seed:  Iapetus  10    

no.3 seed:  Venus  20     vs.     no.11 seed:  Earth  7

no.7 seed:  Jupiter  13     vs.     no.15 seed:  The Reefs of Space  5

no.2 seed:  The Sun  10      vs.      no.10 seed:  Titan  12 

no.6 seed:  The Moon  5     vs.      no.14 seed:  Uranus  3  

no.4 seed:  The Asteroids  16      vs.     no.12 seed:  Pellucidar  9

no.8 seed:  Saturn  8    vs.     no.16 seed:  Triton  6

quarter-finals, 11-15 november 2017:

no.1 seed:  Mars       vs.     no.5 seed:  Mercury          

no.3 seed:  Venus       vs.     no.7 seed:  Jupiter      

no.10 seed:  Titan        vs.     no.6 seed:  The Moon    

no.4 seed:  The Asteroids        vs.     no.8 seed:  Saturn     

After the first day's play:

Mars  3    Mercury  1
Venus  3    Jupiter  2
Titan  2    The Moon  2
The Asteroids  2    Saturn  1

After the second day's play:

Mars  4    Mercury  3
Venus  5    Jupiter  3
Titan  3    The Moon  3
The Asteroids  4    Saturn  2

After the third day's play:

Mars  5    Mercury  3
Venus  9    Jupiter  4
Titan  7    The Moon  3
The Asteroids  7    Saturn  2

After the fourth day's play:

Mars  10    Mercury  8
Venus  14    Jupiter  7
Titan  9    The Moon  7
The Asteroids  15    Saturn  9

After the fifth and last day's play:

QUARTER-FINAL RESULTS, NOVEMBER 2017:

no.1 seed:  Mars  12     vs.     no.5 seed:  Mercury  11        

no.3 seed:  Venus  16     vs.     no.7 seed:  Jupiter  7    

no.10 seed:  Titan  9     vs.     no.6 seed:  The Moon  8 

no.4 seed:  The Asteroids  17      vs.     no.8 seed:  Saturn  10    

semi-finals, 16-20 november 2017:

no.1 seed:  Mars       vs.     no.3 seed:  Venus      

no.10 seed:  Titan       vs.     no.4 seed:  The Asteroids 

After the first day's play:

Mars  0    Venus  2
Titan  4    The Asteroids  1

After the second day's play:

Mars  7    Venus  6
Titan  7    The Asteroids  8

After the third day's play:

Mars  11    Venus  8
Titan  10    The Asteroids  12

After the fourth day's play:

Mars  11    Venus  8
Titan  13    The Asteroids  13

After the fifth and last day's play:

SEMI-FINAL RESULTS, NOVEMBER 2017:

no.1 seed:  Mars  19      vs.     no.3 seed:  Venus  13    

no.10 seed:  Titan  14      vs.     no.4 seed:  The Asteroids  17

So for the second time, we have a final between the Asteroids and Mars.  On the previous occasion, in February, the Martians won.  The Asteroids have been in two other finals since then: once in March, when they lost to the Saturnians, and again in September, when they beat the Saturnians to gain their first trophy.

THE FINAL, 21-25 NOVEMBER 2017; RESULT OUT 26 NOV:

no.1 seed:  Mars        vs.     no.4 seed:  The Asteroids  

After the first day's play:

Mars  5    The Asteroids  4

After the second day's play:

Mars  6    The Asteroids  7

After the third day's play:

Mars  6    The Asteroids  8

After the fourth day's play:

Mars  8    The Asteroids  9

After the fifth and last day's play:

no.1 seed:  Mars  8     vs.     no.4 seed:  The Asteroids  9

So the winner of the November 2017 Interplanetary Knock-Out is

The Asteroids

As it did two months ago, the Belt erupts in a frenzy of delirious coruscations.

The Asteroids now have their revenge for their defeats by Mars, in the February final and in last month's semi-final.

The Belters have now won twice, while the Martians have won four times.

And although this time the Asteroids won by only one point, the Martians likewise won two of their trophies - of April (against Jupiter) and June (against Titan) - by just one point on each occasion.

Now, who's coming to pick up the trophy?  A golden shimmer...  all the spectators shrink back in awe...  it is the Master of Asteroid Phocea...

---

october 2017

first round, 1-5 october 2017:

no.1 seed:  Mars  21     vs.     no.17 seed:  Neptune  6 

no.9 seed:  The Sun  14    vs.     no.25 seed:  Europa  4 

no.5 seed:  Jupiter  13    vs.     no.21 seed:  Triton  9 

no.13 seed:  Pluto  6    vs.     no. 29 seed:  Styx  4 

no.3 seed:  Vulcan  16     vs.     no.19 seed:  Comets  7

no.11 seed:  Iapetus  16    vs      no.27 seed:  Io  5

no.7 seed:  The Asteroids  12     vs.     no.23 seed:  Pallas  6

no.15 seed:  Amalthea  7    vs.     no.31 seed:  Leda  3

no.2 seed:  Venus  16     vs.      no.18 seed:  The Reefs of Space  9

no.10 seed:  Titan  13     vs       no.26 seed:  Ganymede  6

no.6 seed:  Saturn  15     vs.      no.22 seed:  Titania  8

no.14 seed:  Pellucidar  12     vs.     no.30 seed:  Umbriel  6

no.4 seed:  Mercury  9     vs.     no.20 seed:  Callisto  7

no.12 seed:  Earth  12     vs.     no.28 seed:  Ceres  4

no.8 seed:  The Moon  11    vs.     no.24 seed:  Oberon  9

no.16 seed:  Uranus  13    vs.     no.32 seed:  Ariel  5

One of those rounds in which the judgement of the Seeding Committee has been thoroughly borne out.

second round, 6-10 october 2017:

no.1 seed:  Mars  29     vs.     no.9 seed:  The Sun  16 

no.5 seed:  Jupiter  19    vs.     no.13 seed:  Pluto  8

no.3 seed:  Vulcan  16    vs.      no.11 seed:  Iapetus  13

no.7 seed:  The Asteroids  19     vs.      no.15 seed:  Amalthea  9

no.2 seed:  Venus  14     vs.      no.10 seed:  Titan  13

no.6 seed:  Saturn  18     vs.      no.14 seed:  Pellucidar  12

no.4 seed:  Mercury  18     vs.     no.12 seed:  Earth  14

no.8 seed:  The Moon  14    vs.      no.16 seed:  Uranus  14

Rank mostly prevailed: in each game the upper seed won, except for the draw between the Moon and Uranus, which makes a replay necessary.

REPLAY, 11TH OCTOBER 2017:

no.8 seed:  The Moon  5      vs.      no.16 seed:  Uranus  0

QUARTER-FINALS, 11-15 OCTOBER 2017:

no.1 seed:  Mars       vs.     no.5 seed:  Jupiter 

no.3 seed:  Vulcan      vs.      no.7 seed:  The Asteroids 

no.2 seed:  Venus       vs.      no.6 seed:  Saturn 

no.4 seed:  Mercury      vs.     no.8 seed:  The Moon 

It's a sign of how much history has been accumulated by the competition, which is now in its fourteenth month: that of these eight quarter-finalists, seven are previous winners of the trophy.  Only the Moon has yet to win it.

After the first day's play:

Mars  5    Jupiter  0
Vulcan  2    The Asteroids  1
Venus  3    Saturn  1
Mercury  1    The Moon  5

After the second day's play:

Mars  5    Jupiter  0
Vulcan  2    The Asteroids  1
Venus  5    Saturn  2
Mercury  1    The Moon  6

After the third day's play:

Mars  7    Jupiter  1
Vulcan  4    The Asteroids  6
Venus  8    Saturn  3
Mercury  3    The Moon  8

After the fourth day's play:

Mars  10    Jupiter  7
Vulcan  8    The Asteroids  8
Venus  11    Saturn  6
Mercury  9    The Moon  11

After the fifth day's play the October 2017 quarter-final results are as follows:

no.1 seed:  Mars  11     vs.     no.5 seed:  Jupiter  10

no.3 seed:  Vulcan  9     vs.      no.7 seed:  The Asteroids  12

no.2 seed:  Venus  13     vs.      no.6 seed:  Saturn  7

no.4 seed:  Mercury  13    vs.     no.8 seed:  The Moon  13

A Mercury-Moon replay is necessary, as the Mercurians, showing some of their old fire, came up from behind in quite dramatic fashion to draw with the Selenites.  The Jovians meanwhile almost did the same to their old rivals the Martians, in a late surge which, however, wasn't quite good enough for them to catch up with the Red Planet.  Bandolian the skeletal Morgor, clashing his dentures, vows his team will do better next time - or else.

QUARTER-FINAL REPLAY, 16TH OCTOBER 2017:

no.4 seed:  Mercury  4    vs.     no.8 seed:  The Moon  3

A dramatic comeback by the Inner Planet.

semi-finals, 16-20 october 2017:

no.1 seed:  Mars       vs.     no.7 seed:  The Asteroids 

no.2 seed:  Venus       vs.      no.4 seed:  Mercury 

After the first day's play: 

Mars  4    Asteroids  4
Venus  5    Mercury  4

After the second day's play: 

Mars  10    Asteroids  8
Venus  9    Mercury  6

After the third day's play: 

Mars  15    Asteroids  8
Venus  11    Mercury  10

After the fourth day's play: 

Mars  20    Asteroids  13
Venus  16    Mercury  12

After the fifth and last day's play of the semi-finals, October 2017: 

no.1 seed:  Mars  27     vs.     no.7 seed:  The Asteroids  18

no.2 seed:  Venus  22     vs.      no.4 seed:  Mercury  17

So for the second time in history we shall have a Mars-Venus final.  In July, the Venusians (seeded no.3) narrowly defeated the Martians (seeded no.2).  This time the Martians are no.1. seed and the Venusians no.2.  The Martians, favourites to win, are in top scoring form, yet the Venusians are not far behind, and the wisest pundits are hedging their bets.  If the Martians do win this one, they will equal Venus' record of four trophies.

the final, 21-25 october 2017:

no.1 seed:  Mars       vs.     no.2 seed:  Venus 

After the first day's play:

Mars  1    Venus  1

After the second day's play:

Mars  6    Venus  2

After the third day's play:

Mars  11    Venus  6

After the fourth day's play:

Mars  14    Venus  8

After the last day's play:  

no.1 seed:  Mars  20     vs.     no.2 seed:  Venus  14  

So the winner of the October 2017 Interplanetary Knock-Out is

Mars

"From the organizers' point of view (and the bookies') this is the most perfect result ever: number 1 seed beats number 2 seed in the final.  Oddly, it has never happened before.  The closest to it was the December 2016 final, the only other one where number 1 faced number 2 - but on that occasion the number 2 (Venus) beat the number 1 (Mercury). 

Anyhow, the Martians have now caught up with the Venusians in number of trophies won.  After fourteen competitions the trophy-totals are:  Mars and Venus 4 each, Saturn 2, and Jupiter, Mercury, Vulcan and the Asteroids 1 each.  As to aggregate scores - "

"Thank you, Statistician Glubglop; I must interrupt you as we get back to the stadium on Ceres where the Archon Zendexor is about to hand over the System trophy to...  who's this?  Ah, a red-tinted figure in harness...  the Unknown Panthan approaches the Archon's box, takes the Orrery and holds it aloft to wild cheers and Kaors from the red, black, white, yellow and green Barsoomians, plus willowy sorns, insectoid pfiffltriggi, furry hrossa, birdlike Tweel...  Never heard such cacophonous pandemonium...  while simultaneously the silent Gallun Martians are flashing their torches and winking their mirrors..."

---

september 2017

first round, 1-5 september 2017:

no.1 seed:  Mars  16     vs.   no.17 seed:  The Reefs of Space  5 

no.9 seed:  Mercury  11    vs.   no.25 seed:  Oberon  6 

no.5 seed:  Jupiter  10    vs.   no.21 seed:  Comets  11 

no.13 seed:  Pellucidar  7    vs.   no. 29 seed:  Ariel  3 

no.3 seed:  Vulcan  12    vs.   no.19 seed:  Titania  9

no.11 seed:  Titan  14    vs.   no.27 seed:  Leda  4

no.7 seed:  The Asteroids  10    vs.   no.23 seed:  Europa  2

no.15 seed:  Neptune  4     vs.   no.31 seed:  Umbriel  3

no.2 seed:  Venus  11    vs.   no.18 seed:  Pluto  10

no.10 seed:  Iapetus  11   vs.   no.26 seed:  Io  2

no.6 seed:  Saturn  10    vs.   no.22 seed:  Pallas  6 

no.14 seed:  Uranus  3    vs.    no.30 seed:  Styx  7

no.4 seed:  The Sun  12    vs.   no.20 seed:  Callisto  10

no.12 seed:  Earth  11    vs.   no.28 seed:  Ceres  7 

no.8 seed:  The Moon  14    vs.   no.24 seed:  Ganymede  5

no.16 seed:  Triton  7    vs.   no.32 seed:  Cerberus  5

Two upsets in this first round: giant planets beaten by small bodies.

second round, 6-10 september 2017:

no.1 seed:  Mars  27     vs.   no.9 seed:  Mercury  15     

no.21 seed:  Comets  5     vs.     no.13 seed:  Pellucidar  16 

no.3 seed:  Vulcan  15     vs.     no.11 seed:  Titan 11

no.7 seed:  The Asteroids  15    vs.     no.15 seed:  Neptune  8 

no.2 seed:  Venus  16    vs.     no.10 seed:  Iapetus  11

no.6 seed:  Saturn  12    vs.     no.30 seed:  Styx  3  

no.4 seed:  The Sun  12   vs.     no.12 seed:  Earth  14

no.8 seed:  The Moon  19     vs.     no.16 seed:  Triton  7 

quarter-finals, 11-15 september 2017:

no.1 seed:  Mars       vs.   no.13 seed:  Pellucidar   

no.3 seed:  Vulcan       vs.     no.7 seed:  The Asteroids     

no.2 seed:  Venus      vs.     no.6 seed:  Saturn      

no.12 seed:  Earth      vs.     no.8 seed:  The Moon      

After the first day's play:

Mars  3    Pellucidar  0
Vulcan  3    Asteroids  3
Venus  3    Saturn  2
Earth  2    The Moon  3

After the second day's play:

Mars  5    Pellucidar  1
Vulcan  5    Asteroids  4
Venus  5    Saturn  3
Earth  3    The Moon  3

After the third day's play:

Mars  7    Pellucidar  3
Vulcan  7    Asteroids  7
Venus  10    Saturn  6
Earth  5    The Moon  4

After the fourth day's play:

Mars  10    Pellucidar  4
Vulcan  9    Asteroids  10
Venus  11    Saturn  12
Earth  6    The Moon  6

After the fifth day's play:

no.1 seed:  Mars  11    vs.   no.13 seed:  Pellucidar  8

no.3 seed:  Vulcan  12     vs.     no.7 seed:  The Asteroids  12   

no.2 seed:  Venus  12     vs.     no.6 seed:  Saturn  14    

no.12 seed:  Earth  9    vs.     no.8 seed:  The Moon  8    

Some mildly surprising results here.  The resurgent Saturnians managed to get on top of their old rivals the Venusians, while Earth narrowly beat its higher-seeded satellite (this is only the second occasion on which the Terrans have reached the semi-finals; the other time they did it was in April).  Vulcan and the Asteroids will have to re-play.

QUARTER-FINAL REPLAY, 16TH SEPTEMBER 2017:

no.3 seed:  Vulcan  2   vs.     no.7 seed:  The Asteroids  5   

SEMI-FINALS, 16-20 SEPTEMBER 2017:

no.1 seed:  Mars      vs.     no.7 seed:  The Asteroids     

no.6 seed:  Saturn     vs.     no.12 seed:  Earth     

After the first day's play:

Mars  6    The Asteroids  5
Saturn  7    Earth  3

After the second day's play:

Mars  9    The Asteroids  5
Saturn  8    Earth  4

After the third day's play:

Mars  12    The Asteroids  10
Saturn  13    Earth  4

After the fourth day's play:

Mars  12    The Asteroids  13
Saturn  16    Earth  5

After the fifth and last day's play:

no.1 seed:  Mars  18     vs.     no.7 seed:  The Asteroids  20   

no.6 seed:  Saturn  20    vs.     no.12 seed:  Earth  8    

The Asteroidians are cock-a-hoop at having beaten their old rivals the Martians, who were their Nemesis in the February final, and at gaining another final-round clash with the Saturnians, to whom they lost in March.

the final, 21-25 september 2017:

no.7 seed:  The Asteroids     vs.     no.6 seed:  Saturn         

After the first day's play:

The Asteroids  5    Saturn  0

After the second day's play:

The Asteroids  9    Saturn  3

After the third day's play:

The Asteroids  11    Saturn  7

After the fourth day's play:

The Asteroids  14    Saturn  11

The tension is almost unbearable.  Day by day the Saturnians are clawing back from behind, narrowing the Asteroidal lead, but with one day to go the Belters are still three points ahead; will this be enough to land them the first ever trophy to be awarded to any of the smaller bodies of the System?  (Assuming that last month's victors, Vulcan, are accounted a major planet.) 

After the fifth and last day's play the score was unchanged:

no.7 seed:  The Asteroids  14    vs.     no.6 seed:  Saturn  11       

So the winner of the September 2017 Interplanetary Knock-Out is

The Asteroids

The Belt twinkles like mad as every lump of rock between Mars and Jupiter, plus the Trojans and the Amor Mars-crossers and the Apollo Earth-crossers, plus the "Centaur" outer-System wanderers, plus Icarus, erupt in a pyrotechnic display of joyful abandon.  Old Krah from Iskar lifts the trophy at the ceremony in Ceres stadium - the first time that the venue is also the HQ of the winning team.  For the first time ever, the smaller bodies of the System have shown they can win over the major planets.

It is also worth noting that the Asteroids team did not merely win the trophy; they did so in the most convincing and exciting manner, defeating three former champions on their way up - Vulcan, Mars and Saturn - and twice coming up from behind to overtake their opponents.  Only on the last day of the final did both sides falter, doubtless in exhaustion.

---

august 2017

first round, 1-5 august 2017:

no.1 seed:  Venus  22    vs.   no.17 seed:  Neptune  9

no.9 seed:  Iapetus  15    vs.   no.25 seed:  Europa  7

no.5 seed:  The Sun  15    vs.   no.21 seed:  Oberon  4 

no.13 seed:  Pellucidar  14    vs.   no. 29 seed:  Ariel  4 

no.3 seed:  Mercury  15    vs.   no.19 seed:  Callisto  11

no.11 seed:  Earth  10    vs.   no.27 seed:  Cerberus  4

no.7 seed:  Saturn  15    vs.   no.23 seed:  Titania  5

no.15 seed:  Uranus  12    vs.   no.31 seed:  Leda  3

no.2 seed:  Mars  19    vs.   no.18 seed:  Triton  6

no.10 seed:  The Moon  16    vs.   no.26 seed:  Styx  3

no.6 seed:  Titan  15    vs.   no.22 seed:  Pallas  4 

no.14 seed:  The Reefs of Space  8      vs.    no.30 seed:  Io  5

no.4 seed:  Jupiter  17  vs.   no.20 seed:  Comets  6

no.12 seed:  The Asteroids  15  vs.   no.28 seed:  Ceres  4 

no.8 seed:  Vulcan  13    vs.   no.24 seed:  Ganymede  4

no.16 seed:  Pluto  7    vs.   no.32 seed:  Umbriel  5

second round, 6-10 august 2017:

no.1 seed:  Venus  9   vs.   no.9 seed:  Iapetus  8

no.5 seed:  The Sun  9   vs.   no.13 seed:  Pellucidar  8

no.3 seed:  Mercury  5   vs.   no.11 seed:  Earth  8 

no.7 seed:  Saturn  13     vs.   no.15 seed:  Uranus  10   

no.2 seed:  Mars  10    vs.   no.10 seed:  The Moon  10

no.6 seed:  Titan  16   vs.   no.14 seed:  The Reefs of Space  2

no.4 seed:  Jupiter  14   vs.   no.12 seed:  The Asteroids  10 

no.8 seed:  Vulcan  8   vs.   no.16 seed:  Pluto  1

Two big upsets this round: Luna held mighty Mars to a draw, and the Terrans beat the usually much stronger Mercurians.  The narrowness of the champions' win over the Iapetans also aroused comment - as did the fact that this round's highest score was achieved not by a planet but by a moon: Titan.

There will have to be a Mars-Moon replay.

REPLAY, 2ND ROUND MATCH, 11 AUGUST 2017:

no.2 seed:  Mars  5    vs.   no.10 seed:  The Moon  2

quarter-finals, 11-15 august 2017:

no.1 seed:  Venus     vs.   no.5 seed:  The Sun    

no.11 seed:  Earth    vs.    no.7 seed:  Saturn 

no.2 seed:  Mars     vs.    no.6 seed:  Titan    

no.4 seed:  Jupiter     vs.    no.8 seed:  Vulcan 

After the second day's play:

Venus 5   The Sun  5
Earth  3    Saturn  3
Mars  5    Titan  3
Jupiter  4    Vulcan  4

After the third day's play:

Venus  8   The Sun  5
Earth  5    Saturn  4
Mars  7    Titan  6
Jupiter  5    Vulcan  6

After the fourth day's play:

Venus  11   The Sun  7
Earth  7    Saturn  7
Mars  8    Titan  7
Jupiter  7    Vulcan  9

Quarter-final results after the fifth and last day's play:

no.1 seed:  Venus  15   vs.   no.5 seed:  The Sun  8  

no.11 seed:  Earth  8    vs.    no.7 seed:  Saturn  10

no.2 seed:  Mars  9    vs.    no.6 seed:  Titan  12  

no.4 seed:  Jupiter  9    vs.    no.8 seed:  Vulcan  10

A quarter-final which will be long remembered in the bars and bistros of the Old Solar System.  Admittedly, the victories of Venus and Saturn, over the Sun and Earth respectively, were expected.  But the other matches resulted in two big upsets.  The Venusians, however, are still very much the favourites to win the tournament, clinching their hold on the competition.  We seem to be living in a Venusian Era...

semi-finals, 16-20 august:

no.1 seed:  Venus     vs.   no.7 seed:  Saturn  

no.6 seed:  Titan      vs.    no.8 seed:  Vulcan  

After the first day's play:

Venus  17    Saturn  5
Titan  3    Vulcan  12

Mighty surges by the Venusians and Vulcanians make it seem already very likely that we're in for an Inner Solar System final.  The Titanics, who came within a whisker of being System champions back in June, unexpectedly flopped (comparatively) on this first day of the semi-finals.

After the second day's play:

Venus  33    Saturn  8
Titan  5    Vulcan  20

After the third day's play:

Venus  38    Saturn  10
Titan  8    Vulcan  27

After the fourth day's play:

Venus  43    Saturn  15
Titan  11    Vulcan  34

After the fifth and last day's play of the semi-finals, 20 August 2017:

no.1 seed:  Venus  52    vs.   no.7 seed:  Saturn  20

no.6 seed:  Titan  16    vs.    no.8 seed:  Vulcan  42

So the Vulcanians have reached their first ever final round; and not by any fluke, either - in the past few days their scores have consistently rivalled those of the mighty Venusians.

If Vulcan wins, it will be the first time a non-existent planet gains the trophy.  On every world, extremists from both ends of the political spectrum are getting excited - the Romantic Right, by the idea that their dreams can be substantiated; the Radical Left, by the prospect of support for their contention that "existence is an outmoded bourgeois concept".  Conversely, "squares" are lining up to support Venus.

the final, 21-25 august 2017; result out 26 august:

no.1 seed:  Venus     vs.    no.8 seed:  Vulcan  

After the first day's play:
Venus  1    Vulcan  5

Are we in for an upset?  Too soon to tell, maybe.  But the "Children of the Sun" are already coruscating their energy-fields...

After the second day's play:
Venus  5    Vulcan  8

After the third day's play:
Venus  13    Vulcan  12

Here we see the staying power of a major-planet team...

After the fourth day's play:
Venus  13    Vulcan  14

Spoke too soon - the Venusians are stalling close to the last fence - the commentators are gabbling like mad as the Vulcanians overtake - the System economy grinds to a halt as the workforce glues itself to the viewscreens - Captain Future appeals for calm -

After the fifth and last day's play:

no.1 seed:  Venus  16     vs.    no.8 seed:  Vulcan  17 

The System erupts in a freaked-out frenzy of astonished excitement as the first ever non-existent winner of the tournament takes the championship.  It's a specially great day for anti-realism activists.  Their cause is, in any case, always popular in the Old Solar System, but, as the saying goes, "some are more non-existent than others", and here we're talking about a whole planet...

Exceptions to the frenzy are, of course, the Venusians, who slump in disbelief; while certain grim smiles are visible on the faces of many Martians, happy to see their great rival take a fall.  (The Venusians, however, can console themselves that they are still the greatest team in IKO history, having won four trophies to the Martians' three.)

A buzz of speculation goes round the stadium on Ceres.  Who will come forward to lift the trophy?  A shimmer of energy - a blast of heat - and a glowing entity glides forth... 

So the winner of the August 2017 Interplanetary Knock-Out is

Vulcan

---

july 2017

first round, 1-5 july 2017:

no.1 seed:  Callisto  9    vs.   no.17 seed:  Uranus  11 

no.9 seed:  Iapetus  14    vs.   no.25 seed:  Europa  5

no.5 seed:  Jupiter  11   vs.   no.21 seed:  Ganymede  3

no.13 seed:  The Sun  15    vs.   no. 29 seed:  Leda  2 

no.3 seed:  Venus  17    vs.   no.19 seed:  Comets  5

no.11 seed:  Earth  8     vs.   no.27 seed:  Cerberus  5

no.7 seed:  Titan  16     vs.   no.23 seed:  Pallas  6 

no.15 seed:  The Reefs of Space  9    vs.   no.31 seed:  Ariel  3

no.2 seed:  Mars  29     vs.   no.18 seed:  Neptune  10 

no.10 seed:  Pellucidar  12    vs.   no.26 seed:  Io  3 

no.6 seed:  The Asteroids  8     vs.   no.22 seed:  Oberon  4 

no.14 seed:  Vulcan  10     vs.   no.30 seed:  Umbriel  5

no.4 seed:  Saturn  10    vs.   no.20 seed:  Triton  8 

no.12 seed:  The Moon  11    vs.   no.28 seed:  Ceres  3 

no.8 seed:  Mercury  20    vs.   no.24 seed:  Titania  4 

no.16 seed:  Pluto  8    vs.   no.32 seed:  Styx  5 

Mars' score is causing team managers to chew their lips (those that have them) in consternation at the Red Planet's current dominance.  Of course, anything can happen in a knock-out tournament, but if the Martians keep their present form the others might as well go home...

second round, 6-10 july 2017:

no.17 seed:  Uranus  12     vs.     no.9 seed:  Iapetus  17

no.5 seed:  Jupiter  13   vs.   no.13 seed:  The Sun  12   

no.3 seed:  Venus  22    vs.   no.11 seed:  Earth  12   

no.7 seed:  Titan  10     vs.   no.15 seed:  The Reefs of Space  11   

no.2 seed:  Mars  15     vs.   no.10 seed:  Pellucidar  8   

no.6 seed:  The Asteroids  7     vs.   no.14 seed:  Vulcan  12

no.4 seed:  Saturn  14     vs.   no.12 seed:  The Moon  11  

no.8 seed:  Mercury  14     vs.   no.16 seed:  Pluto  9  

quarter-finals, 11-15 july 2017:

no.9 seed:  Iapetus      vs.     no.5 seed:  Jupiter    

no.3 seed:  Venus     vs.      no.15 seed:  The Reefs of Space     

no.2 seed:  Mars       vs.      no.14 seed:  Vulcan  

no.4 seed:  Saturn      vs.      no.8 seed:  Mercury 

This is the first time that The Reefs of Space have reached the quarter-finals.

After the first day's play:

Iapetus  3    Jupiter  2
Venus  3    The Reefs of Space  2
Mars  1    Vulcan  3
Saturn  1    Mercury  2

After the second day's play:

Iapetus  3    Jupiter  6
Venus  4    The Reefs of Space  2
Mars  2    Vulcan  3
Saturn  1    Mercury  5

After the third day's play:

Iapetus  7    Jupiter  9
Venus  7    The Reefs of Space  6
Mars  7    Vulcan  7
Saturn  7    Mercury  8

After the fourth day's play:

Iapetus  12    Jupiter  12
Venus  12    The Reefs of Space  9
Mars  10    Vulcan  9
Saturn  11    Mercury  11

As we go into the final day's play, anything could happen!  The System is particularly agog at the manner in which the tenacious Iapetans have caught up with the Jovians...

Quarter-final results after the fifth day's play, 15th July 2017:

no.9 seed:  Iapetus  16     vs.     no.5 seed:  Jupiter  14  

no.3 seed:  Venus  15   vs.      no.15 seed:  The Reefs of Space  11   

no.2 seed:  Mars  11     vs.      no.14 seed:  Vulcan  10 

no.4 seed:  Saturn  13    vs.      no.8 seed:  Mercury  12

All teams performed creditably; however, the Martians' narrow win makes them seem no longer invincible, and they will need to recover their form dramatically if the Red Planet is to win an unprecedented fourth trophy. 

Meanwhile the Iapetans' triumph over the Jovians has most caught the imagination of the System.  They have reached the semi-finals, as they did once before, in April.  On that occasion they lost to the Martians after an epic struggle which went to two replays; now their opponents will be the Venusians.  Needless to say, all the moons of the System are rooting for the "Arc" to win a first-ever place in the final.

semi-finals, 16-20 july 2017:

no.9 seed:  Iapetus      vs.     no.3 seed:  Venus

no.2 seed:  Mars      vs.      no.4 seed:  Saturn 

After the first day's play:

Iapetus  2    Venus  8
Mars  8    Saturn  9

After the second day's play:

Iapetus  6    Venus  12
Mars  12    Saturn  11

After the third day's play:

Iapetus  7    Venus  15
Mars  20    Saturn  13

The Martians are having one of their surges - as are the Venusians, to a lesser degree.  It already seems like we're shaping up for a Venus-Mars final; if this happens, it will be the first such encounter in the finals so far.

After the fourth day's play:

Iapetus  10    Venus  24
Mars  27    Saturn  17

Yep, I reckon we can safely say it's going to be a Venus-Mars final - barring a fantastic, epochal surge by Iapetans and/or Saturnians.  Leader-writers are preparing portentous essays on the mythological significance of the contrast between the planets of Love and War...

After the last day's play:

Semi-final results, July 2017:

no.9 seed:  Iapetus  11    vs.     no.3 seed:  Venus  37

no.2 seed:  Mars  43    vs.      no.4 seed:  Saturn  19

Well, bad luck to the Saturnians who, with a fine score of 19, might normally have expected to be in sight of a place in the final.  Unfortunately for them they came up against a Martian team who during these past five days achieved the highest ever score in the history of the tournament.

The Venusians likewise are on top of their form and the final looks set to be a humdinger.

the final, 21-25 july 2017:

no.3 seed:  Venus      vs.     no.2 seed:  Mars 

After the first day's play:
Venus  6    Mars  7

After the second day's play:
Venus  10    Mars  14

Hmm... the Venusians are playing excellently well but there's a distinct sense of Martian dominance
in the air...  And yet, of the 3 trophies Mars has won, the last two were won only narrowly (beating the Titanics by one point last month, and the Jovians by one point in April); only the February win over the Asteroids was really convincing - the score then being 30 to 24... 

After the third day's play:
Venus  16    Mars  16

Suddenly that sense of Martian dominance has dissipated and the rival worlds are neck and neck.  All over the System employees are faking sick-notes so as to be able to skive off to Ceres Stadium... and running into their bosses when they get there.

After the fourth day's play:
Venus  20    Mars  20

A superbly climacteric final, this!  System pundits are already comparing it to the Ali-Frazier fight in 1971, though that was between two hitherto-undefeated champions, which is not the case here; nevertheless the hyperbole is understandable.  Two teams each of whom have won three trophies are battling for who will be the first to gain four, and the battle is neck and neck on the two penultimate days of the tournament.

After the fifth day's play:

no.3 seed:  Venus  27   vs.     no.2 seed:  Mars  27  

So a replay becomes necessary.  What a scorcher of a contest.  The System is going ape.  (Except some of the Barsoomians who are literally apes.)  Results of the replay to be announced the following day.

REPLAY OF THE FINAL, 26 JULY 2017:

no.3 seed:  Venus  8   vs.     no.2 seed:  Mars  7 

So the winner of the July 2017 Interplanetary Knock-Out is

Venus

Well, the tenacious Venusians overhauled the Martians at last, in the highest-scoring and closest-fought final of the tournament's eleven-month history.

The Martians lost by one point for a change, instead of winning by one point as they have done in two previous finals.

The Venusians now have a record four championships to their credit, beating the Martians' three.

However, the result was so close that, rather than pronounce the Venusians to be the dominant Hits-power, the consensus seems to be that the System is currently under a sort of dyarchy, with these two teams far ahead of the rest.  Time will tell how long this judgement will remain credible. Meanwhile the beautiful Duare once again graciously holds aloft the trophy for the Planet of Love which has, for the moment, triumphed over the Planet of War.

---

june 2017

first round, 1-6 june 2017:

(Note: this round lasted one day longer than scheduled, due to disruptive action by the Realists' Liberation Front: the System suffered etheric disturbance and cognitive malfunctions for which the RLF have claimed responsibility.)

no.1 seed:  Saturn  22   vs.   no.17 seed:  Callisto  9

no.9 seed:  The Asteroids  15   vs.   no.25 seed:  Umbriel  5

no.5 seed:  The Sun  14   vs.   no.21 seed:  Pallas  8

no.13 seed:  Titan  14    vs.   no. 29 seed:  Io  7

no.3 seed:  Iapetus  19    vs.   no.19 seed:  Neptune  10

no.11 seed:  Vulcan  13    vs.   no.27 seed:  Leda   8

no.7 seed:  The Moon  15   vs.   no.23 seed:  Ceres  6

no.15 seed:  Pluto  11   vs.   no.31 seed:  Cerberus  7

no.2 seed:  Venus  25   vs.   no.18 seed:  Comets  8 

no.10 seed:  Jupiter  19   vs.   no.26 seed:  Ganymede  8 

no.6 seed:  Mercury  10    vs.   no.22 seed:  Titania  6 

no.14 seed:  Uranus  9   vs.   no.30 seed:  Styx  6

no.4 seed:  Mars  21   vs.   no.20 seed: Triton  11 

no.12 seed:  Earth  18    vs.   no.28 seed:  Oberon  6 

no.8 seed:  Pellucidar  10    vs.   no.24 seed:  Europa  5 

no.16 seed: The Reefs of Space  13    vs.   no.32 seed:  Ariel  6

second round, 7-10 june 2017:

no.1 seed:  Saturn  12   vs.   no.9 seed:  The Asteroids  18

no.5 seed:  The Sun  11    vs.   no.13 seed:  Titan  13

no.3 seed:  Iapetus  10    vs.   no.11 seed:  Vulcan  7

no.7 seed:  The Moon  7    vs.   no.15 seed:  Pluto  6

no.2 seed:  Venus  10    vs.   no.10 seed:  Jupiter  12

no.6 seed:  Mercury  11    vs.   no.14 seed:  Uranus  6

no.4 seed:  Mars  18    vs.   no.12 seed:  Earth  6

no.8 seed:  Pellucidar  11   vs.   no.16 seed: The Reefs of Space  8

You hardly expect to see both May finalists knocked out in June's second round!

These two dramatic reversals of fortune, the unexpected victories of the Asteroids over Saturn, and of Jupiter over current champions Venus, have made this one of the most interesting and satisfying second-round stages in the history of the tournament.  The Venusians - thrice holders of the trophy, and the most successful team in IKO history - are wondering what hit them.

quarter-finals, 11-15 june 2017:

no.9 seed:  The Asteroids     vs.    no.13 seed:  Titan  

no.3 seed:  Iapetus      vs.    no.7 seed:  The Moon 

no.10 seed:  Jupiter      vs.     no.6 seed:  Mercury 

no.4 seed:  Mars      vs.    no.8 seed:  Pellucidar 

After the first day's play:

The Asteroids  0    Titan  1
Iapetus  2   Moon  0
Jupiter  1    Mercury  0
Mars  1    Pellucidar  0

After the second day's play:

The Asteroids  5    Titan  5
Iapetus  5   Moon  5
Jupiter  3    Mercury  1
Mars  6    Pellucidar  4

After the third day's play:

The Asteroids  6    Titan  7
Iapetus  6   Moon  7
Jupiter  6    Mercury  5
Mars  7    Pellucidar  6

After the fourth day's play:

The Asteroids  10    Titan  8
Iapetus  7   Moon  12
Jupiter  9    Mercury  8
Mars  11    Pellucidar  11

After the fifth day's play:

no.9 seed:  The Asteroids  10   vs.    no.13 seed:  Titan  12 

no.3 seed:  Iapetus  9  vs.    no.7 seed:  The Moon  13

no.10 seed:  Jupiter  12    vs.     no.6 seed:  Mercury  8 

no.4 seed:  Mars  14   vs.    no.8 seed:  Pellucidar  14

Extra time needed for Mars and Pellucidar!
Titan and the Moon reach their first semi-finals.  The money's still on the Martians to achieve their first championship trophy, but the System is astir with the ambitions of the smaller worlds, and many whispers are abroad, that their day may be at hand. 
Meanwhile Jupiter's convincing win over Mercury (once the strongest team) has aroused speculation that the giant planet, which won the first IKO but none since, may be about to stage a come-back in this tenth tournament.  Its selectors have a huge enough population from which to draw promising players, though it's a bit of a problem to comb all that Jovian land-area.

Quarter-Final Replay, 16th June 2017:

no.4 seed:  Mars  1   vs.    no.8 seed:  Pellucidar  1

Still not decided!  Another replay necessary.  The Martians are still the favourites but the Pellucidarians are a tenacious bunch, kept in training by constant tussles with cave-bears and thipdars.

Quarter-Final 2nd Replay, 17th June 2017:

no.4 seed:  Mars  3   vs.    no.8 seed:  Pellucidar  3

Here we go again.  Neither side will cede a sofad, it seems.  Third replay necessary.

Meanwhile the semi-final scores of the other remaining competitors are accumulating.
The Moon is leading Titan by 6 points to 5.  Jupiter, like the Moon, is on 6.  The replay points of Mars and Pellucidar add up to 4 each so far. 

If, unprecedentedly, Mars and Pellucidar continue to be neck and neck in their unfinished quarter-final throughout the five days of what ought to have been the semi-finals, it may be that Jupiter will save the situation by being ahead of both of them by 20th June; in which case, Jupiter will be declared the winner of that semi-final even though we haven't established which team out of the Mars-Pellucidar quarter-final contest counted as the Jovians' opponent - for we will be able to say that both of them were bettered by Jupiter.  If you see what I mean.

On the other hand, if the Mars-Pellucidar contest produces more points than Jupiter by the 20th of June, we will be in the awkward situation of having to delay the schedule of the competition, while we continue with the replays.

It's a headache for the organizers.  A lot of tentacles are getting into a twist.

Quarter-Final 3nd Replay, 18th June 2017:

no.4 seed:  Mars  3   vs.    no.8 seed:  Pellucidar  0

At last, a decision.  After a gallant show, the Pellucidarians are on their way back home to enjoy the sunshine, leaving the Martians to face the Jovians in the semi-final.

semi-finals, 16-20 june 2017:

no.13 seed:  Titan       vs.    no.7 seed:  The Moon 

no.10 seed:  Jupiter      vs.     no.4 seed:  Mars 

After the third day's play:

Titan  6    The Moon  7
Jupiter  6    Mars  7

After the fourth day's play:

Titan  8    The Moon  8
Jupiter  8    Mars  10

After the fifth and last day's play:

no.13 seed:  Titan  13     vs.    no.7 seed:  The Moon  10

no.10 seed:  Jupiter  12      vs.     no.4 seed:  Mars  13   

All four teams performed well and the result was in doubt up to the end of play.
Now we have a final between Titan and Mars, both of which scored 13 in the semis...

The Titanics have done amazingly well to get this far.  Odds against them at the start of the tournament were in the thousands to one.  Might they 'pull it off'?  If so, they'd be the first non-major-planet team to gain the trophy.  Doubtless it will happen some day, but will this month provide the day?

The Martians are by no means invincible in the finals - their win against the Jovians in April was as narrow as could be.  Nevertheless it is hard to imagine them being beaten by a mere moon... but it ain't over till it's over.

the final, 21-25 june 2017:

no.13 seed:  Titan       vs.    no.4 seed:  Mars     

After the first day's play:

Titan  2     Mars  2

After the second day's play:

Titan  6     Mars  5

After the third day's play:

Titan  10     Mars  10

After the fourth day's play:

Titan  12     Mars  14

After the final day's play:

no.13 seed:  Titan  17    vs.    no.4 seed:  Mars  18   

So the winner of the June 2017 Interplanetary Knock-Out is

Mars

So after a hard-fought final, in which the Titanics put in a tenacious performance, the Red Planet has now won the trophy three times, equalling the record of Venus.

Tars Tarkas as Team-Captain lifted the trophy for the Martians, and then made a courtly speech, interrupted by a few hecklers protesting at "human rights abuses" by the green men of Barsoom.

After ten competitions the trophy totals are: Venus and Mars three each; Saturn two; Mercury and Jupiter one each.

---

may 2017

first round, 1-5 may 2017:

no.1 seed:  Saturn  10   vs.   no.17 seed:  Callisto  8

no.9 seed:  The Moon  9   vs.   no.25 seed:  Europa  4

no.5 seed:  Jupiter  6   vs.   no.21 seed:  Ariel  3

no.13 seed:  Pluto  7   vs.   no. 29 seed:  Umbriel  3

no.3 seed:  Mars  8    vs.   no.19 seed:  Titan  6

no.11 seed:  Pellucidar  7    vs.   no.27 seed:  Leda  1

no.7 seed:  Vulcan  11   vs.   no.23 seed:  Triton  4

no.15 seed:  The Reefs of Space  5   vs.   no.31 seed:  Ceres  4 

no.2 seed:  Mercury  11    vs.   no.18 seed:  Comets  4

no.10 seed:  Iapetus  10    vs.   no.26 seed:  Ganymede  3

no.6 seed:  Neptune  8    vs.   no.22 seed:  Pallas  2 

no.14 seed:  The Sun  8    vs.   no.30 seed:  Styx  2

no.4 seed:  Venus  13    vs.   no.20 seed: Titania  3 

no.12 seed:  Earth  4     vs.   no.28 seed:  Io  2 

no.8 seed:  The Asteroids  8     vs.   no.24 seed:  Oberon  2 

no.16 seed: Uranus  11    vs.   no.32 seed:  Cerberus 2

A most satisfactory first round from the point of view of the seeding committee, though not so much from the point of view of the sensationalist tabloids such as the Solar Shriek, which thrive on giant-killing upsets.  The Shriek has to content itself with comment on some mildly surprisingly high scores, such as Vulcan's.

second round, 6-10 may 2017:

no.1 seed:  Saturn  14    vs.   no.9 seed:  The Moon  14

no.5 seed:  Jupiter  11    vs.   no.13 seed:  Pluto  14

no.3 seed:  Mars  12    vs.   no.11 seed:  Pellucidar  9  

no.7 seed:  Vulcan  14    vs.   no.15 seed:  The Reefs of Space  11

no.2 seed:  Mercury  18     vs.   no.10 seed:  Iapetus  16

no.6 seed:  Neptune  6  vs.   no.14 seed:  The Sun  13

no.4 seed:  Venus  13    vs.   no.12 seed:  Earth  10

no.8 seed:  The Asteroids  12    vs.   no.16 seed: Uranus  10

A fascinating round, notable for the amazing victory of Pluto over Jupiter (Pluto reached the quarter-finals for the first time last month, and have now repeated the performance), and also remarkable for the high scores generally. 

The Sun unexpectedly has got through to the quarter-finals; it has done so only once before, in December.  (The Vulcanians, likewise, have done it once before - they reached the quarter-finals in October.) 

Perhaps most dramatically of all, the Moon has held mighty Saturn to a draw, necessitating a replay.

The Moon usually wins in the first round, and on three occasions (September, December and February) has won in the second round, but on each of those occasions has then been beaten in the quarter-finals.  The Selenites need to badger the Grand Lunar to figure out a winning strategy.

SECOND ROUND REPLAY, 11TH MAY 2017:

no.1 seed:  Saturn  3    vs.   no.9 seed:  The Moon1

quarter-finals, 11-15 may 2017:

After the first day's play:

Saturn  3    Pluto  1
Mars  2    Vulcan  1
Mercury  2   The Sun  3
Venus  0   The Asteroids  4

After the second day's play:

Saturn  8    Pluto  1
Mars  6    Vulcan  3
Mercury  4   The Sun  4
Venus  5   The Asteroids  7

After the third day's play:

Saturn  10    Pluto  2
Mars  7    Vulcan  4
Mercury  4   The Sun  6
Venus  6   The Asteroids  8

After the fourth day's play:

Saturn  14    Pluto  3
Mars  9    Vulcan  6
Mercury  8   The Sun  9
Venus  9   The Asteroids  9

After the last day's play:

no.1 seed:  Saturn  18    vs.   no.13 seed:  Pluto  6 

no.3 seed:  Mars  17    vs.   no.7 seed:  Vulcan  10

no.2 seed:  Mercury  12   vs.   no.14 seed:  The Sun  12

no.4 seed:  Venus  13   vs.   no.8 seed:  The Asteroids  13 

Amazing!  Two replays needed!  Watch this space.

QUARTER-FINAL REPLAYS, 16TH MAY 2017:

no.2 seed:  Mercury  3   vs.   no.14 seed:  The Sun  3

no.4 seed:  Venus  4   vs.   no.8 seed:  The Asteroids  1 

One must admit that the Venusians did well to come up from behind these last few days and finally to beat their opponents, though it would have been good to see the Asteroids reach the final once more.

The Sun is doing amazingly well against its hot rival.  Another replay to follow!

no.2 seed:  Mercury  2   vs.   no.14 seed:  The Sun  1

So the solar orb retires from the quarter-finals with honour, and Mercury goes through.  We now have a semi-final entirely composed of previous competition winners, three of whom have won twice - Mercury is the odd one out with just one previous trophy.

semi-finals, 16-20 may 2017:

no.1 seed:  Saturn      vs.   no.3 seed:  Mars     

no.2 seed:  Mercury     vs.   no.4 seed:  Venus 

After the second day's play:

Saturn  2   Mars  11
Mercury  5    Venus  6

After the third day's play:

Saturn  7   Mars  14
Mercury  9    Venus  8

After the fourth day's play:

Saturn  14   Mars  15
Mercury  10    Venus  12

After the fifth and last day's play:

no.1 seed:  Saturn  17     vs.   no.3 seed:  Mars  16   

no.2 seed:  Mercury   10   vs.   no.4 seed:  Venus  13

Both finalists have won the trophy twice already.  So whatever happens now, we are going to end up with a thrice-winner.

the final, 21-25 may 2017:

no.1 seed:  Saturn       vs.   no.4 seed:  Venus  

(These two teams have met once before in the final, last October, and on that occasion the Saturnians narrowly won, 10-9.)

After the first day's play:
Saturn  1     Venus  0

After the second day's play:
Saturn  2     Venus  1

After the third day's play:
Saturn  3     Venus  3

After the fourth day's play:
Saturn  7     Venus  4

It looked like the Saturnians had sewn up their third trophy win.  But the Venusians did their trick f coming up from behind, as they'd done against Mercury in the semi-final, only more dramatically this time - from 3 points behind to one point ahead.

After the fifth and last day's play:

no.1 seed:  Saturn  7     vs.   no.4 seed:  Venus  8

So the winner of the May 2017 Interplanetary Knock-Out is

Venus

 - which now becomes the first team to be thrice-winners of the championship.  Venus, then, is now the superpower of the tournament.  Segir is being quaffed in vast amounts in all the dives around Venusopolis, celebrating the narrow one-point victory over that very same world that gained a one-point victory over Venus in last October's final.  The quaffers watch on TV as the Venerian dragon, whose unpronounceable name is rendered in Terran speech as "Sir Isaac", rears up to lift the trophy on behalf of all the peoples of the Mystery Planet.

---

april 2017

first round, 1-5 april 2017:

no.1 seed:  Saturn  28    vs.   no.17 seed:  Titan  8 

no.9 seed:  The Moon  7   vs.   no.25 seed:  Callisto  2 

no.5 seed:  Jupiter  9    vs.   no.21 seed:  Pallas  5 

no.13 seed:  The Sun  5   vs.   no. 29 seed:  Styx  1 

no.3 seed:  Venus  8    vs.   no.19 seed:  Comets  8

no.11 seed:  Earth  9    vs.   no.27 seed:  Ceres  2

no.7 seed:  Pluto  4    vs.   no.23 seed:  Europa  2

no.15 seed:  Uranus  5    vs.   no.31 seed:  Umbriel  6

no.2 seed:  Mercury  9    vs.   no.18 seed:  Titania  3

no.10 seed:  Neptune  7   vs.   no.26 seed:  Ariel  5  

no.6 seed:  Iapetus  7    vs.   no.22 seed:  Oberon  3 

no.14 seed:  Pellucidar  4  vs.   no.30 seed:  Ganymede  2

no.4 seed:  Mars  11   vs.   no.20 seed: Triton  2

no.12 seed:  Vulcan  4   vs.   no.28 seed:  Cerberus  3 

no.8 seed:  The Asteroids  7  vs.   no.24 seed:  Io  1

no.16 seed:  The Reefs of Space  4  vs.   no.32 seed:  Leda  5

Some surprises in this round.  Mighty Venus held to a draw by the Comets.  The Uranians beaten by their own satellite, Umbriel.  And for the second month in a row, the lowest seeded team of all, Leda, wins their match.

Earth meanwhile certainly have avenged their notorious defeat by Ceres last September.

FIRST ROUND REPLAY, 6TH APRIL 2017:

no.3 seed:  Venus  0   vs.   no.19 seed:  Comets  0

Come on, Venusians and Cometeers, let's have some scoring in the next replay!

FIRST ROUND REPLAY, 7TH APRIL 2017:

no.3 seed:  Venus  0   vs.   no.19 seed:  Comets  3

It just goes to show that anything can happen in the IKO.  Venus, twice System champions, now knocked out in Round One by the Comets, who have never before won a match.

second round, 6-10 April 2017:

no.1 seed:  Saturn  20    vs.   no.9 seed:  The Moon  10   

no.5 seed:  Jupiter  13   vs.   no.13 seed:  The Sun  4 

no.19 seed:  Comets  6   vs.    no.11 seed:  Earth  6  

no.7 seed:  Pluto  13     vs.   no.31 seed:  Umbriel   3 

no.2 seed:  Mercury  10   vs.   no.10 seed:  Neptune  22

no.6 seed:  Iapetus  12    vs.   no.14 seed:  Pellucidar  10 

no.4 seed:  Mars  12    vs.   no.12 seed:  Vulcan  9 

no.8 seed:  The Asteroids  7   vs.   no.32 seed:  Leda  5 

The shock of the tournament so far: Neptune's stunning win over the great Mercurian team.  Neptune has so far been the "poor relation" in the OSS family - maybe this is the start of a welcome Neptunian renaissance.

Holy planetesimals - another replay involving Comets!

SECOND ROUND REPLAY, 11 APRIL 2017:

no.19 seed:  Comets  0   vs.    no.11 seed:  Earth  2 

quarter-finals, 11-15 April 2017:

After the first day's play:

Saturn 2  Jupiter 3
Earth  2   Pluto  0
Neptune 1   Iapetus  3
Mars  3  The Asteroids  3

After the second day's play:

Saturn 5  Jupiter 7
Earth  6   Pluto  3
Neptune  3   Iapetus  6
Mars  7  The Asteroids  8

After the third day's play:

Saturn  6  Jupiter 11
Earth  7   Pluto  4
Neptune  3   Iapetus  9
Mars  11  The Asteroids  12

After the fourth day's play:

Saturn  11  Jupiter 14
Earth  11   Pluto  6
Neptune  7   Iapetus  11
Mars  16  The Asteroids  15

"The nail-biting match between Mars and the Asteroids - is it going to end like the February final, with the Red Planet prevailing over the Belters?  The Asteroids were leading for two days but have now been dramatically overtaken.  One day to go and the System is awash with buzzing ether-waves...  

"Meanwhile it looks as though Earth, having reached its first ever quarter-final place, is likely to reach its first-ever semi-final place as well.  The Terrestrials are confident that - in IKO terms - their days as an sporting backwater are now past..." 

Final score in the quarter-finals after the fifth day's play:

no.1 seed:  Saturn 11    vs.   no.5 seed:  Jupiter 17  

no.11 seed:  Earth  11    vs.     no.7 seed:  Pluto  9 

no.10 seed:  Neptune  8    vs.      no.6 seed:  Iapetus  12   

no.4 seed:  Mars 16   vs.   no.8 seed:  The Asteroids  15 

semi-finals, 16-20 april 2017:

After the first day's play:

Jupiter  2   Earth  2
Iapetus  5   Mars  4

After the second day's play:

Jupiter  7   Earth  3
Iapetus  7   Mars  8

After the third day's play:

Jupiter  10   Earth  5
Iapetus  9   Mars  10

After the fourth day's play:

Jupiter  15   Earth  6
Iapetus  12   Mars  12

Of the two teams for whom this is the first-ever semi-final, Earth is evidently outclassed by its giant opponent, but Iapetus is giving the Martians a run for their money... 

Result after 5th day's play:

no.5 seed:  Jupiter 16    vs.     no.11 seed:  Earth  7    

no.6 seed:  Iapetus  13     vs.     no.4 seed:  Mars  13

So the Iapetus-Mars clash must be replayed.

Semi-final replay, 21st April 2017:

Iapetus  2    Mars  2

Second semi-final replay, 22nd April 2017:

Iapetus  2    Mars  7

the final, 21-25 april 2017:

no.5 seed: Jupiter        vs.     no.4 seed:  Mars 

After the second day's play:

Jupiter  3    Mars  7

After the third day's play (no change in score):

Jupiter  3    Mars  7

After the fourth day's play:

Jupiter  6    Mars  9

After the fifth day's play (25 April 2017):

no.5 seed: Jupiter  13      vs.     no.4 seed:  Mars  13

Jupiter has caught up!  In this tentacle-gnawing final the Giant Planet's last-minute surge means the contest must go into extra time.  This likewise happened in the first final, back in September, between Jupiter and Mercury (Jupiter went on to win).

Martian renown versus Jovian mass - green men versus methane monsters - birdlike Tweels versus psychopathic hexans - it's anyone's guess what the result will be.  The System is agog, with inner and outer worlds pitted against each other and rooting for their representatives...  Whichever team wins will join Saturn and Venus in the select company of twice-winners... 

REPLAY OF FINAL, 26 APRIL 2017:

no.5 seed: Jupiter   1     vs.     no.4 seed:  Mars  1

Still not decided.  Neither team will give an inch.  Second replay scheduled for 27 April.  All System business at a standstill.

SECOND REPLAY OF FINAL, 27 APRIL 2017:

no.5 seed: Jupiter  0     vs.     no.4 seed:  Mars 1

So the winner of the April 2017 Interplanetary Knock-Out is

Mars

Dejah Thoris, surrounded by a strong bodyguard trained trained to watch out for kidnappers, lifted the trophy to an ecstatic throng...

Three teams have now won the IKO Hits Trophy more than once:  Venus, Mars and Saturn.
Each of these has won it twice (though only Venus has won it twice consecutively). 

The number of twice-winners now exceeds the number of once-winners (Jupiter and Mercury).

Of the 8 competitions so far, 5 trophies have gone to the Inner Solar System, and 3 to the Outer.

---

march 2017

first round, 1-5 march 2017:

no.1 seed: Mars 12   vs.   no.17 seed:  Europa  5

no.9 seed:  Pellucidar  5  vs.   no.25 seed:  Ganymede  2

no.5 seed:  Venus  5   vs.   no.21 seed:  Oberon  2

no.13 seed: Pluto  8   vs.   no. 29 seed:  Io  1

no.3 seed:  Saturn  9  vs.   no.19 seed:  Callisto  2

no.11 seed:  Vulcan  7   vs.   no.27 seed:  Titania  1

no.7 seed:  Triton  5  vs.   no.23 seed:  Titan 2

no.15 seed:  The Sun  5   vs.   no.31 seed: Cerberus  1

no.2 seed:  Mercury  18  vs.   no.18 seed:  Neptune  2

no.10 seed: Iapetus 7  vs.   no.26 seed:  Umbriel  3    

no.6 seed:  Jupiter  8  vs.   no.22 seed: The Reefs of Space  2 

no.14 seed:  The Moon  7   vs.   no.30 seed: Ariel 4

no.4 seed: The Asteroids 3   vs.   no.20 seed: Pallas  3

no.12 seed: Earth  4   vs.   no.28 seed: Styx  5  

no.8 seed: Uranus  9   vs.   no.24 seed: Ceres 2

no.16 seed: Comets 2   vs.   no.32 seed: Leda 3

A replay is needed between The Asteroids and Pallas.

Earth vanquished by Styx!  Imagine how the Stygians are whooping it up on their tiny Plutonian moon.

Leda is another small world that did well.

Top scorer in this round is the second seed, Mercury, and the second highest scorer is the first seed, Mars.

REPLAY, 6TH MARCH:

no.4 seed: The Asteroids  3 vs.   no.20 seed: Pallas  1

second round, 6-10 march 2017:

no.1 seed:  Mars 11    vs.   no.9 seed:  Pellucidar  6  

no.5 seed:  Venus  18    vs.   no.13 seed:  Pluto  6  

no.3 seed:  Saturn  11     vs.   no.11 seed:  Vulcan  9

no.7 seed:  Triton  4    vs.   no.15 seed:  The Sun  3

no.2 seed:  Mercury  14    vs.   no.10 seed:  Iapetus  16

no.6 seed:  Jupiter  17    vs.   no.14 seed:  The Moon  8 

no.4 seed:  The Asteroids  9    vs.   no.28 seed:  Styx  5  

no.8 seed:  Uranus  8    vs.   no.32 seed:  Leda  3

The shock of all shocks has rocked the System: Mercury knocked out in round 2 by the Iapetans.  It is the first time, in all seven competitions so far, that the Inner Planet has been beaten anywhere short of the semi-finals.  Magnesium flares are bursting all over the Arc of Iapetus...  while the Mercurian manager is being denounced by some as a "dumb dluku" who ought to be strapped to a heat-lizard and sent into Hotside, though others point out that a score of 14 is quite creditable.

quarter-finals, 11-15 march 2017:

After the first day's play:
Mars 3  Venus 4
Saturn 2  Triton 0
Iapetus 4  Jupiter 6
The Asteroids 2  Uranus 1

After the second day's play:
Mars 5  Venus 5
Saturn 5  Triton 4
Iapetus 7  Jupiter 9
The Asteroids 2  Uranus 2

After the third day's play:
Mars 11  Venus 10
Saturn 11  Triton 4
Iapetus 11  Jupiter 13
The Asteroids 6  Uranus 4

After the fourth day's play:
Mars 13  Venus 11
Saturn 15  Triton 6
Iapetus 12  Jupiter 15
The Asteroids 8  Uranus 4

Final result after the fifth day's play:

no.1 seed:  Mars  15    vs.     no.5 seed:  Venus  12 

no.3 seed:  Saturn  19    vs.   no.7 seed:  Triton  7 

no.10 seed:  Iapetus  17   vs.   no.6 seed:  Jupiter  18

no.4 seed:  The Asteroids  10   vs.   no.8 seed:  Uranus  4

The most excitement was in the match between the 10th and 6th seeds, in which the Iapetans' late surge almost caught up with the Jovians.

The only weak teams turned out to be the Uranians and the Tritonians. 

The Martians have avenged their December defeat when they were knocked out by the Venusians in the second round, 5-7.

Interest now shifts to the forthcoming semi-final clash between current champions Mars and top quarter-final scorers Saturn - the first ever occasion on which those two planets have faced each other.

All four winners in the quarter-finals scored more in that round than they did in the previous one.  The big players are hitting their stride...

semi-finals, 16-20 march 2017:

After the first day's play:
Mars  1   Saturn  4
Jupiter  0   The Asteroids  1

After the second day's play:
Mars  3   Saturn  7
Jupiter  2   The Asteroids  3

After the third day's play:
Mars  8   Saturn  9
Jupiter  4   The Asteroids  5

After the fourth day's play:

Mars  8   Saturn  11
Jupiter  6   The Asteroids  5

Result after the fifth day's play:

no.1 seed:  Mars  10    vs.     no.3 seed:  Saturn  12

no.6 seed:  Jupiter   8    vs.     no.4 seed:  The Asteroids   8

So the current champions are out, and we have one finalist - Saturn - while the other semi-final needs a re-play.

Saturn has reached the final for the second time; the first was last October, when it went on to win narrowly against Venus, 10-9.  Since then we haven't had any champion from the outer solar system.  But now, whatever happens, the recent domination by the inner planets has been broken - you can't count the Asteroids as "inner"; they're an in-between zone.

SEMI-FINAL REPLAY, 21ST MARCH 2017:

no.6 seed:  Jupiter  0     vs.     no.4 seed:  The Asteroids  8

The phasmidae on Phocea are freaking out in a low-gravity dance of glee at the pulverization of the Giant Planet's team by a terrific and scarcely believable 8-point Asteroidal surge in one day... a surge in which they scored, in that one day, precisely as many hits as they scored in the previous 5 days.

the final, 21-25 march 2017:

no.3 seed:  Saturn       vs.     no.4 seed:  The Asteroids

After the first day's play:
Saturn  1    Asteroids  8

After the second day's play:
Saturn  6    Asteroids  10

After the third day's play:
Saturn  10    Asteroids  13

After the fourth day's play:
Saturn  13    Asteroids  14

The System is agog as the final approaches its climax.  Will the Asteroids stop the Saturnians catching up?  If they can, then the Belters will become the first ever non-major-planet winners of the trophy.  All the small bodies of the System are rooting for them.  On the other hand, the Saturnians - whose beauteous world won once before, back in October - have the support of the Outer Planets who wish to see the trophy returned to their bloc.  Even the surly Jovian Morgors have voiced some support for the Ringed Planet on this occasion...

After the fifth day's play:

no.3 seed:  Saturn  16     vs.     no.4 seed:  The Asteroids  16

So like the first final back in September (Jupiter vs Mercury), and like the January Mercury-Venus final, this one will have to go to a replay.

REPLAY OF THE FINAL - 26TH MARCH 2017:

no.3 seed:  Saturn  2     vs.     no.4 seed:  The Asteroids  0

So the winner of the March 2017 Interplanetary Knock-Out is

Saturn

You have to hand it to the Saturnians - coming up from 1-8 to win.  The Ringed Planet now joins the select company of Venus in the class of those teams who have won the competition twice.  Note also that this month their victory was all the more convincing, in that on their way up they beat the reigning champions Mars.

Spare some sympathy for the Asteroids, beaten finalists two months in a row.  Will a non-major-planet team ever win the trophy?  "If it happens, surely it will be achieved either by the Asteroids or by the Pellucidarians...  or just conceivably by the Iapetans."  So opines the Callistan insect-philosopher Sfegobpfappuref, waving his antennae authoritatively as he dismisses his own world's chances - thus proving how philosophical he is.

Meanwhile Yuru, king of the winged Qualus, holds aloft the trophy amid a triumphant wheeling flock of his fellow Saturnians...

---

february 2017

first round, 1-5 february 2017:

no.1 seed:  Venus  12   vs.   no.17 seed:  Neptune  8 

no.9 seed:  Pluto  5   vs.   no.25 seed:  Io  3 

no.5 seed:  Jupiter  17   vs.   no.21 seed:  Europa  4

no.13 seed: The Sun  10    vs.   no. 29 seed:  Titania  3

no.3 seed:  Mars  19    vs.   no.19 seed:  Comets  8 

no.11 seed:  Uranus  6    vs.   no.27 seed:  Titan  5 

no.7 seed:  Iapetus  11    vs.   no.23 seed:  Ceres  4  

no.15 seed:  Earth  9    vs.   no.31 seed: Leda  5  

no.2 seed: Saturn  17   vs.   no.18 seed:  The Reefs of Space  9  

no.10 seed: Vulcan  12   vs.   no.26 seed:  Styx  4

no.6 seed:  Mercury  13   vs.   no.22 seed: Oberon  7 

no.14 seed:  Callisto  8    vs.   no.30 seed: Umbriel  7

no.4 seed: The Asteroids  12   vs.   no.20 seed: Pallas  4 

no.12 seed: Pellucidar  11    vs.   no.28 seed: Cerberus  3

no.8 seed: The Moon  7    vs.   no.24 seed: Ganymede  4

no.16 seed: Triton  5  vs.   no.32 seed: Ariel  3 

The top seeds made a clean sweep of their opponents - though, in the case of Uranus vs Titan and Callisto vs Umbriel, only by one point.

second round, 6-10 february 2017:

no.1 seed:  Venus   18   vs.    no.9 seed:  Pluto  4

no.5 seed:  Jupiter   7    vs.    no.13 seed:  The Sun  3

no.3 seed:  Mars  12    vs.     no.11 seed:  Uranus  3

no.7 seed:  Iapetus  6    vs.     no.15 seed:  Earth  3   

no.2 seed: Saturn  12    vs.    no.10 seed:  Vulcan  7    

no.6 seed:  Mercury  8    vs.    no.14 seed:  Callisto  3   

no.4 seed: The Asteroids  12   vs.  no.12 seed: Pellucidar  7 

no.8 seed: The Moon  4     vs.   no.16 seed: Triton  3

Another clean sweep for the higher seeds.

quarter-finals, 11-15 february 2017:

The day-by-day reports:

At the end of the third day's play: it's looking as though the seeds will all triumph again, though the tussle between Saturn and Mercury is close.

If Mars manages to win against Iapetus, it will be - amazingly - the first time that the Red Planet has reached the semi-final, in the 6 competitions that have been held so far.

At the end of the fourth day's play:  Jupiter is sneaking up on champions Venus, while the Martians have kept their three-point lead over the Iapetans.  Much more dramatically, Mercury zoomed ahead of Saturn with a spurt of 5 hits.  The Asteroids increased their lead over the Moon.

no.1 seed:  Venus  9    vs.    no.5 seed:  Jupiter  11

no.3 seed:  Mars  11    vs.    no.7 seed:  Iapetus   9

no.2 seed: Saturn  7  vs.    no.6 seed:  Mercury  11   

no.4 seed: The Asteroids  9    vs.   no.8 seed: The Moon  5

A brilliant finish.  The Mercurians have recovered their form, and the Red Planet (current holder of the Zones Cup) has gained its first-ever semi-final place, while its opponent Iapetus also achieved a very respectable score.  But perhaps the main eye-opener is that Venus, reigning champions and top seed, have been unexpectedly knocked out by former champions Jupiter.

semi-finals, 16-20 february 2017:

After the first day's play: 

The Martians have had an impressive start (4-2) against the Jovians; the Red Planet team seem at last to have found their form, for the first time in the history of the competition.  It's early days yet, of course, to predict a win.

More shocking is the strong performance of the Asteroids against the redoubtable Mercurians (4-1).  This is the first ever semi-final for the Belters, and to have achieved a score four times that of their opponents on the first day is a splendid opening.  Their navigation lights are twinkling like mad, while the Mercurian manager is thinking gloomy thoughts of being exiled to an outpost on Hotside.  On the other hand the Mercurians, the only team never to have missed a semi-final, can never be discounted.

After the second day's play:

Mars has increased its lead to 3 points over Jupiter; the score between them is now 7-4.  The Mercurians meanwhile have woken up, put on a spurt and almost caught up with the Asteroids, who now lead by only one point (7-6).

After the third day's play: 

Jupiter's score zoomed up from 4 to 13; the Martians stalled, and fell behind, having added only 2 hits to their previous day's score of 7, though their performance is quite respectable.  They are now 4 points behind Jupiter, who lead 13-9.

Mercury had a good day's hits - an increase of 5.  However, amazingly, the Asteroids put on an even stronger show, scoring another 8 to give them a 15-11 lead, so that, like the Jovians, the Belters are 4 points ahead.

All four semi-finalists are playing well.

After the fourth day's play:

The Asteroids are storming ahead, with 6 extra hits giving them a score of 21 while Mercury gained a "mere" 3 (pretty good in absolute terms) and now trail by 7 points, 14-21.  It's hard to see how the Inner Planet can stop the Asteroids getting to their first-ever final.  A totally unforeseen outcome; the bookies will have to revise their odds.

Mars picked up slightly but are still 3 points behind the Jovians, who look like they'll be finalists for the first time since September (when they beat Mercury to become the first System champions).

However, it ain't over till it's over.

The finish:

The commentators were confounded when Mars on the final day pulled all the stops out to achieve the highest ever score in the competition, picking up a stupefying 17 hits in one day, to thrash the Jovians 30-18.

Mercury did well on the last day, picking up 7 hits to the Asteroids' four, but this was not enough to overtake the Belters, who have - like the Martians - now reached their first ever final.

no.5 seed:  Jupiter  18    vs.    no.3 seed:  Mars  30

no.6 seed:  Mercury  21   vs.    no.4 seed:  The Asteroids  25

the final, 21-25 february 2017:

no.3 seed:  Mars   vs.    no.4 seed:  The Asteroids 

Interim scores in blue.

After the first day's play:      Mars  6      The Asteroids  6

Both teams took off to a mighty start to be neck and neck at 6 hits each after 24 hours.  With another four days to go, they're going to need a good rest in a luxury Venusian resort by the time this competition is over!  One of the softest floating islands on Perelandra, maybe.

After the second day's play:      Mars  11      The Asteroids  11

Quilpulla, the centipedal pundit from Callisto, freaks out in contortions as it gabbles: "History is being made, no matter how you look at it.  If Mars wins, it wins the double - becoming, at least for a few days, the holder of both the Zones Cup and the Knock-Out Trophy.  On the other hand if the Asteroids win, this will be the first occasion that the competition is won by a team not representing a major planet...  But which will it be?  Both are playing like no one's ever played before...  all eyes are agog at the stupendous spectacle...  As Cthulhu would say, "Eeayfhapefnsdtihrtfgh..."  (Hastily a tentacle snakes out and gently but firmly takes possession of the microphone.) 

After the third day's play:      Mars  20      The Asteroids  18

At last one team is pulling ahead of the other in this amazing final.  "They're playing as if they're on steroids," grumbled one Jovian at the improbably high scores.... 

After the fourth day's play:      Mars  25      The Asteroids  21

Looks like we're headed for a Mars win - unless the Asteroids do to Mars what Mars did to Jupiter on the last day of the semi-final...

After the fifth and last day's play the final score is:

no.3 seed:  Mars  30    vs.    no.4 seed:  The Asteroids  24

So the winner of the February 2017 Interplanetary Knock-Out is

Mars

Yes, the Martians have finally clinched it, in the 6th of these interplanetary knock-out competitions.

The Warlord being currently absent on Jupiter, the trophy was handed to Tars Tarkas.  He made a short though courtly speech, mindful of his people's reputation for taciturnity, but when he held the trophy aloft there were some louder demonstrations from Low Canal tribesmen and the wicked women of Jekkara...

Fortune's wheel turns fast in the Old Solar System.  For the previous two competitions it was Venus who bestrode the scene, and now Mars is the winner not only of the IKO but of the Zones Cup simultaneously - the first ever team to perform that feat.

---

january 2017

first round, 1-5 january 2017:

no.1 seed: Mercury  12    vs.   no.17 seed:  Earth  4

no.9 seed:  The Moon  5   vs.   no.25 seed:  Ariel  1

no.5 seed: Mars  7   vs.   no.21 seed: Oberon  2

no.13 seed: Callisto  5    vs.   no. 29 seed:  Leda  2  

no.3 seed:  Jupiter  9     vs.   no.19 seed:  Pluto  6

no.11 seed:  The Reefs of Space  3    vs.   no.27 seed:  Umbriel  5

no.7 seed:  Asteroids  13     vs.   no.23 seed:  Ceres  3  

no.15 seed:  The Sun  9     vs.   no.31 seed: Cerberus  4   

no.2 seed: Saturn  6     vs.   no.18 seed:  Europa  1   

no.10 seed: Uranus  8     vs.   no.26 seed:  Comets  3  

no.6 seed:  Iapetus  6    vs.   no.22 seed: Pallas  2

no.14 seed: Neptune  3     vs.   no.30 seed: Styx  1 

no.4 seed: Venus  9    vs.   no.20 seed: Titan  3  

no.12 seed:  Triton  4     vs.   no.28 seed: Io  5

no.8 seed: Pellucidar  6     vs.   no.24 seed: Ganymede  2

no.16 seed: Vulcan  4     vs.   no.32 seed: Titania  2 

(In case some readers are puzzled as to why Venus, the reigning champions, have been seeded 4th not 1st, please note that seeding is ranked according to page view totals in the preceding month, not according to the previous month's knock-out competition results.) 

The only considerable surprise in the first round was Io's victory over Triton, though it happened once before, last September - the only other occasion on which Io has won a match.

second round, 6-10 january 2017:

no.1 seed: Mercury  10    vs.   no.9 seed: The Moon  4

no.5 seed: Mars  7   vs.   no.13 seed: Callisto  9

no.3 seed: Jupiter  14    vs.   no.27 seed:  Umbriel  2  

no.7 seed:  Asteroids   7    vs.   no.15 seed:  The Sun  7

no.2 seed: Saturn  10    vs.   no.10 seed: Uranus  6

no.6 seed:  Iapetus  20    vs.   no.14 seed: Neptune  4 

no.4 seed: Venus  14    vs.   no.28 seed: Io  4

no.8 seed: Pellucidar   7    vs.    no.16 seed: Vulcan  7

The System is a-buzz with the news of Mars' defeat by Callisto.  Not for the first time, beings in bars from Mercury to Pluto are voicing the opinion that the Martian manager must be sacked. What to do?  Appoint John Carter?  He usually has his hands full rescuing Dejah Thoris and might not be able to give his full attention to the game...

The second round is not over: two matches were drawn, so replays are necessary.

Second-round replays, 11 January 2017:

no.7 seed:  Asteroids   0    vs.   no.15 seed:  The Sun  0

no.8 seed: Pellucidar   1    vs.    no.16 seed: Vulcan  1

Still drawing!  They'll have to play again, no matter how exhausted they are.

Second-round further replays, 12 January 2017:

no.7 seed:  Asteroids   1    vs.   no.15 seed:  The Sun  0

no.8 seed: Pellucidar  2    vs.    no.16 seed: Vulcan  1

quarter-finals, 11-15 january 2017:

no.1 seed: Mercury   6    vs.    no.13 seed: Callisto    4

no.3 seed: Jupiter  3   vs.     no.7 seed: The Asteroids  3

no.2 seed: Saturn   6   vs.     no.6 seed:  Iapetus   5

no.4 seed: Venus   7   vs.     no.8 seed: Pellucidar   4 

For the first time in the competition's history, a quarter-final match has been drawn; Jupiter and the Asteroids will have to re-play.

The other three matches show the big experienced teams ultimately prevailing, though Mercury and Saturn were trailing at first and had to come back from behind.

If the Asteroids lose the replay, the result will give us a semi-final entirely composed of previous champions, which will make it certain that for the first time a team will win the competition twice.

Previous mid-match reports from our breathless correspondent on Ceres:

"At the end of match day three:

"We could be in for the most dramatically upsetting quarter finals in the competition's history.  Down the left hand side of the score-line are four teams who exactly comprise the previous winners of the Knock-Out: Mercury, Jupiter, Saturn and Venus.  Amazingly, off those four, only one, the current champions Venus, is currently ahead against its opponent.  The other three - mighty Mercury, Jupiter and Saturn - are all trailing!  Could this be the month when the smaller bodies of the Solar System begin to show that they can snatch the trophy?

"And be it noted that if Mercury gets knocked out by Callisto, it will be the first time that the Inmost Planet has ever failed to reach the semi-final... and the first time that a moon has reached it (though the asteroid, Pallas, did get that far in November)..."

Report at end of match day four:

"The old guard have fought back!  All four matches now look likely to give a close result...  We have never had any need to reply quarter-finals - no quarter-final match has hitherto been drawn - but this could be the month when it happens..."

Quarter-final replay, 16th January 2017:

no.3 seed: Jupiter  0   vs.     no.7 seed: The Asteroids  0

Still no result!  The Asteroids are making a habit of being involved in replays this month.

Come on, folks, let's have some hits to decide this one!

Quarter-final further replay, 17th January 2017:

no.3 seed: Jupiter  2   vs.     no.7 seed: The Asteroids  2

Grrrr!  Still no decision!  The Committee are waggling their palps in frustration and impatience.

Quarter-final further replay, 18th January 2017:

no.3 seed: Jupiter  4   vs.     no.7 seed: The Asteroids  3

At last we now know the semi-final line-up!  And it's an illustrious one - namely, the four previous winners of the competition, who must now battle to see which may be the first-ever team to win it twice. 

And the seeding has worked out perfectly!

An even more amazing irony of the line-up is that the first semi-final is a repeat of the September final, while the second semi-final is a repeat of the October final!

(In September Jupiter beat Mercury after a replay; in October Saturn narrowly beat Venus.)

semi-finals, 16-20 January 2017:

no.1 seed: Mercury  8    vs.    no.3 seed: Jupiter  5

no.2 seed: Saturn  7    vs.    no.4 seed: Venus  13

It's going to be a Mercury vs Venus final again!  Jupiter looked like beating the Inmost Planet at first, but the smaller world overtook the larger.  Venus meanwhile was in top form and the Saturnians never looked like mounting an effective challenge.

Now we have the same line-up as in December's final, except that this time Venus is no.4 instead of no.2 seed.

In December the Mercurians - then the reigning champions, and the highest scores in the semi-finals - were favourites to win, yet Venus won.  Now the Venusians - who likewise now are both the reigning champions and the highest scores in the semi-final - are the favourites...

the final, 21-25 january 2017:

Scores-so-far day by day in blue.  At the end of the first day's play the score was Mercury 1, Venus 2.  But at the end of the second day's play, Mercury had scored another three hits, dramatically overtaking Venus who was still stuck on 2.  Then the third day (this is certainly a harder fought final than the previous one) Venus almost pulled back, gaining a couple of points to Mercury's one, reducing Mercury's lead to 5-4.

The fourth day, both sides scored well, Venus one point better, so as the competition reaches its climax the two Hot Worlds are neck and neck on 8 each.

The fifth day, the score remained unchanged:

no.1 seed: Mercury  8    vs.    no.4 seed: Venus  8

- necessitating a continuation into extra time, 26th January, after which the score stood as follows:

no.1 seed: Mercury  9    vs.    no.4 seed: Venus  11

So the winner of the January 2017 Interplanetary Knock-Out is

Venus

The reigning champions thus have kept the trophy - and this is the first time that a team has won it more than once.

In whatever dives Venusians are gathered, a lot of segir-whisky will be quaffed all over the System tonight...

---

december 2016

first round, 1-5 december 2016:

no.1 seed: Mercury 13     vs.   no.17 seed: Vulcan 7  

no.9 seed: Iapetus 4     vs.   no.25 seed: Styx 2

no.5 seed: Pallas 12     vs.   no.21 seed: Reefs of Space 6 

no.13 seed: Earth 7     vs.   no. 29 seed: Ganymede 1  

no.3 seed: Triton 9     vs.   no.19 seed: Ceres 3    

no.11 seed: The Moon 9    vs.   no.27 seed: Cerberus 4 

no.7 seed: Jupiter 11   vs.   no.23 seed: Europa 5 

no.15 seed: Pluto 4     vs.   no.31 seed: Leda 3  

no.2 seed: Venus 7     vs.   no.18 seed: Neptune 6 

no.10 seed: Mars 11     vs.   no.26 seed: Titan 3

no.6 seed: Pellucidar 4     vs.   no.22 seed: Oberon 1  

no.14 seed: Uranus 7     vs.   no.30 seed: Ariel 1

no.4 seed: Saturn 13      vs.   no.20 seed: Comets 2 

no.12 seed: Callisto 6     vs.   no.28 seed: Io 1 

no.8 seed: The Asteroids 9    vs.   no.24 seed: Umbriel 2

no.16 seed: The Sun 8    vs.   no.32 seed: Titania  2

An upset-free round - the first time this has happened.  The seeding committee are smirking happily.  The only (mild) surprise is that Neptune came so close to drawing with Venus.

The poor old Vulcanians must be pretty fed up with being knocked out by the Mercurians at the start of the competition for the second month running - but then, Vulcanian thought-processes tend to suffer from heatstroke... whereas Mercurians are energized by living on the edge of two drastically contrasting planetary zones.

second round, 6-10 December 2016:

no.1 seed: Mercury 12    vs.   no.9 seed: Iapetus 11 

no.5 seed: Pallas 6    vs.    no.13 seed: Earth 4

no.3 seed: Triton 6    vs.    no.11 seed: The Moon 10

no.7 seed: Jupiter 8    vs.    no.15 seed: Pluto 3

no.2 seed: Venus 7    vs.    no.10 seed: Mars 5

no.6 seed: Pellucidar 8    vs.    no.14 seed: Uranus 4 

no.4 seed: Saturn 9    vs.    no.12 seed: Callisto 6

no.8 seed: The Asteroids 5   vs.   no.16 seed: The Sun 6 

Two upsets in this round, as can be seen from the table above - and one near-upset in which the Iapetans came close to defeating the reigning champions, the mighty Mercurians.

This is the first time that the Sun has got through the second round.

The Martians are pretty well fed up with being the under-calots in encounters with other major planets - as well as their even more catastrophic defeat by little Cerberus in round one last month.  The Martians' best moment was their crushing defeat of Neptune in October's second round.  But they have lost to Jupiter, to Mercury and now to Venus.  So the Red Planet is looking for a new manager.

quarter-finals, 11-15 december 2016:

no.1 seed: Mercury  14   vs.   no.5 seed: Pallas  4

no.11 seed: The Moon  4   vs.    no.7 seed: Jupiter  8

no.2 seed: Venus  13   vs.    no.6 seed: Pellucidar  4

no.4 seed: Saturn  11   vs.    no.16 seed: The Sun  2   

Venus was looking to avenge her narrow defeat in last month's quarter-final clash with Pellucidar, which the Pellucidarians won in an epic cliff-hanger, 16-15.  This time the Venusians began as narrow favourites to win.  A surge on the fourth day's play saw them widen their lead, and they finished with a convincing victory turning the tables on the Pellucidarians.

Meanwhile the Palladians took a early surprise lead over the Mercurians.  Navigation lights were flashed in excitement all over the Asteroid Belt.  However, the third day's play saw a Mercurian surge, doubling the Palladian score, and the lights went on in a different Belt - the Twilight one.  The fourth day's play widened the inner planet's lead, and the fifth and final day saw a second surge, putting the reigning champions a full ten points ahead, to earn them their fourth consecutive semi-final place. Indeed, so far in the competition, the Mercurians have never yet failed to reach the semi-final; they are the only team for which this can be said.

These results, along with victories by Jupiter and Saturn, ensure an all-major-planet semi-final, with the same four teams as October's though differently paired.

semi-finals, 16-20 december 2016:

The two top seeds obtained convincing victories - ensuring that 2016 would end with an all-Inner-Planet final.

Day by day:

Venus (having taken an early lead on the first day, hoping to avenge her narrow defeat by Saturn in the October final) surged ahead on the second day.  On the third day the Saturnians rallied, scoring 3 more hits than the Venusians, and almost catching up with them, but on the fourth day the Venusians widened their lead to 4 hits.

Mercury and Jupiter tied on the first day but the second day ended with Mercury doubling the Jovians' score. The third day saw both sides scoring 5, so the Mercurians kept their 3-hit lead.  On the fourth day this dramatically widened to a 10-hit lead.  It looks very much as though Mercury is heading for its second consecutive final.

On the fourth day, the top two seeds once more surged ahead of their opponents.

no.1 seed:  Mercury  20   vs.    no.7 seed:  Jupiter  11

no.2 seed:  Venus  14   vs.     no.4 seed:  Saturn  10 

the final, 21-25 december 2016:

no.1 seed:  Mercury  2   vs.     no.2 seed:  Venus  6

So the winner of the December 2016 Interplanetary Knock-Out is

Venus

The beautiful Duare, princess of Vapaja, lifted the trophy to the acclaim of the crowd. 

A blow-by-blow account from our hits correspondent on Ceres as the match unfolded:

At the opening ceremony, 21st Dec: "Well, folks, this is Mercury's third final, and Venus' second, so it stands to reason we must have two super teams here; yet it's hard to find anyone who will allow that the Venusians have a snowball's chance on Hotside against the Mercurians this month.  However, as whatshisname said, it ain't over till it's over."

After the first day's play:  "To everyone's surprise, the Venusians have taken a 2-1 lead.  The scoring on both sides has, however, been lower than expected.  Restless fans were kept in order all day (a day here is 9 hours, but officially we adhere to Earth time) - fans were kept in order, as I was saying, by Jovian hexans patrolling the lanes between the stands..."

After the second day's play:  "Another desultory performance - in which Mercury did not score at all and Venus increased its lead by one point.  Perhaps both teams are tired, or else the fans whose mind-power infuses them with their vim are too occupied with preparing for Christmas to focus their attention on this match.  Still, it's a puzzle.  Where is the mighty Mercury of the semi-final, scoring an average of 4 hits a day?  Some of the fans are beginning to boo their team, threatening to tie them to the back of a heat-lizard and send them into Hotside when they get back..."

After the third day's play:  "This is turning out to be an extraordinary final, due to the stunning collapse of the Mercurians.  The almost equally flaccid Venusians picked up one more point, to lead 4-1.  Perhaps the greater size and population of Venus is giving them that extra oomph to achieve victory, despite the lethargy which appears to have gripped both sides.  Still, the Yogi Berra-ism is still as relevant as ever: it really ain't over till it's over.  A volcanic last-minute spurt from Mercury can't be ruled out - the Inmost Planet is always dangerous."

After the fourth day's play:  "People are beginning to view the Venusians - who have now increased their lead to 4 hits - as having already donned the mantle of System champions.  There's something appropriate after all, in the Planet of Love scoring highest at Christmas..."

After the final day's play:  "No new hits on Christmas Day.  So, the Venusians have done it.  In 2016, we have had four different winners in four months of the competition - two Outer Solar System winners, followed by two Inner Solar System winners."

---

november 2016

first round, 1-5 november:

no.1 seed: Mercury 12   vs.   no.17 seed: Vulcan 6

no.9 seed: The Moon 5   vs.   no.25 seed: Europa 2   

no.5 seed: Jupiter 12   vs.   no.21 seed: Titan 3  

no.13 seed: Earth 6    vs.   no. 29 seed: Oberon 6

no.3 seed: Saturn 8   vs.   no.19 seed: The Reefs of Space 4  

no.11 seed: Uranus 12   vs.   no.27 seed: Titania 4

no.7 seed: Callisto 11   vs.   no.23 seed: Umbriel 5

no.15 seed: Pluto 7   vs.   no.31 seed: Io 4

no.2 seed: Venus 18   vs.   no.18 seed: The Sun 2

no.10 seed: The Asteroids 7   vs.   no.26 seed: Ceres 5

no.6 seed: Pellucidar 17   vs.   no.22 seed: Comets 2 

no.14 seed: Triton 18    vs.   no.30 seed: Ariel 1 

no.4 seed: Pallas 11   vs.   no.20 seed: Styx 5

no.12 seed: Iapetus 10   vs.   no.28 seed: Leda 3

no.8 seed: Mars 5   vs.   no.24 seed: Cerberus 6 

no.16 seed: Neptune 2   vs.   no.32 seed: Ganymede 3

Two upsets in this round, which set the seeding committee to shake their heads - those of them that have heads:

Earth is held to a draw by tiny Oberon - necessitating a replay; and in a shock result unparalleled in the history of the competition, mighty Mars was actually beaten by Cerberus.  Even the second round defeat of Earth by Ceres in September did not cause so much amazement as this. 

The Martians can console themselves that they are likely to do much better in the Zones Cup, where they have attained second place each time so far.

Neptune's defeat by Ganymede was also eye-brow-raising, though not so much as the other two results.

Replay, 6th November:

no.13 seed: Earth 0    vs.   no. 29 seed: Oberon 1

Well, that's it.  A minor outer-planet moon has out-hit the planet of humanity.  Earth's manager resigns.  A search now begins for another eminent Jasoomian to fill the role... Tarzan announces  he's not interested.

second round, 6-10 november:

no.1 seed: Mercury  29   vs.    no.9 seed: The Moon 12

no.5 seed: Jupiter  15   vs.    no. 29 seed: Oberon 3

no.3 seed: Saturn 18   vs.    no.11 seed: Uranus 9

no.7 seed: Callisto 9    vs.    no.15 seed: Pluto 9

no.2 seed: Venus 27   vs.    no.10 seed: The Asteroids 10

no.6 seed: Pellucidar 18   vs.    no.14 seed: Triton 16

no.4 seed: Pallas 15   vs.    no.12 seed: Iapetus 11

no.24 seed: Cerberus 3   vs.    no.32 seed: Ganymede 4 

Callisto vs Pluto must replay.

The Ganymedeans were elated at having got through to the third round, after being knocked out in the first round the past two months.  However, they now face the redoubtable asteroid, Pallas.  The Ganymedean manager, P'Holkuun, has lodged a complaint with the Hits Committee, on the grounds that it's not fair, the Palladians having the popular tale Peril on Pallas inflating their results.  But it's unlikely that the Committee will uphold the complaint.  After all, the Ganymedeans are welcome to post tales of their own world.

Replay, 11th November:

no.7 seed: Callisto 3    vs.    no.15 seed: Pluto 1

quarter-finals, 11-15 november:

no.1 seed: Mercury  28   vs.    no.5 seed: Jupiter 21 

no.3 seed: Saturn  25    vs.    no.7 seed: Callisto 10

no.2 seed: Venus 15    vs.    no.6 seed: Pellucidar 16 

no.4 seed: Pallas 21    vs.    no.32 seed: Ganymede 3   

Pundits all across the System agreed that the Palladians were almost certain to overwhelm the Ganymedeans - and so they did.  But the other Jovian moon in the quarter-finals, Callisto, was considered to have some chance against the Saturnians.  However, Saturn's victory, as it turned out, was crushing.

For Mercury vs Jupiter and Venus vs Pellucidar the betting was more even, with the Mercurians in high hopes to avenge their defeat in the September final.  They did so in style, though the Jovians put up a good fight.

Venus was narrowly beaten in an epic tussle with Pellucidar and so, for the first time, has failed to reach the semi-finals.

semi-finals, 16-20 November 2016:

no.1 seed: Mercury  31   vs.   no.3 seed: Saturn  21  

no.6 seed: Pellucidar  20   vs.   no.4 seed: Pallas  13

Pelludicar reached the semi-finals once before, in September, where it was beaten by Mercury.  This time it was thought to have a better chance, despite Pallas being a formidably interesting planetoid.  And the pundits here were right: the Pellucidarians won, to reach their first final.

This semi-final round was the first in which only two of the contending teams represented major planets.  And for the first time, it had become certain that there would be a final between a team which represents a major planet and one which does not.

That major planet turned out to be Mercury.  The Saturnians scored highly but were nevertheless pulverised by the Mercurians, whose score of 31 was the highest ever known in the history of the tournament so far.

Now the Mercurians became the hot favourites (get it - "hot"!) to beat the Pellucidarians in the final.  But whoever was to win, it was now certain that the November victor - for the first time in the history of the competition - would be a team from the Inner Solar System.

the final, 21-25 november:

no.1 seed: Mercury  13   vs.   no.6 seed: Pellucidar  7  

So the winner of the November 2016 Interplanetary Knock-Out is

Mercury

Wild scenes of celebration lit up the Twilight Belt when the results came in.  The Mercurian-by-adoption, Eric John Stark, lifted the trophy in company with Mnuvax of Vutu.  Shannach could not attend because he had been blown up, but siliconites from Pezerjink strode in slow motion past the stand...

This was the first occasion on which the trophy had gone to a team from the inner solar system.

And the first occasion on which it had gone to the favourite - that is, to the number one seed.

---

october 2016

(The teams are the same for September except for 3 changes: [1] there is now a Pallas team, [2] the Rings of Saturn team is merged with the Saturn team; and [3] to counterbalance that addition to the Saturnian team, the Jovian team now includes the Great Red Spot page hits.)

first round, 1-5 october:

no.1 seed: Jupiter  17   vs.   no. 17 seed: Ceres  4  

no.9 seed: The Asteroids  3  vs.  no.25 seed: Umbriel  7 

no.5 seed: Mars  9   vs.  no. 21 seed: Europa  4 

no.13 seed: Neptune  5   vs.  no.29 seed: Io  4  

no.3 seed: Venus   10   vs.  no.19 seed:  Triton  6  

no.11 seed: The Moon  8   vs.  no.27 seed: Comets  5  

no.7 seed: Pellucidar  7   vs.  no.23 seed: Ganymede  1  

no.15 seed: Vulcan  3   vs.  no.31 seed: Leda  2  

no.2 seed: Mercury  14   vs.  no.18 seed: Pluto  8

no.10 seed: Earth  6   vs.  no.26 seed: Cerberus  5 

no.6 seed: Iapetus  9   vs.  no.22 seed: The Reefs of Space  5  

no.14 seed: Uranus  13  vs.  no.30 seed: Ariel  4 

no.4 seed: Pallas  3   vs.  no.20 seed: Titan  1  

no.12 seed: The Sun  4  vs.  no.28 seed: Oberon  3  

no.8 seed: Saturn  13   vs.  no.24 seed: Styx  7 

no.16 seed: Callisto  7  vs.  no.32 seed: Titania  7 

Callisto vs Titania had to go to extra time.

Extra time, 6th October:

no.16 seed: Callisto  2  vs.  no.32 seed: Titania  0 

- so the "Thanatorians" go through to the next round.

Only one upset in this first round: little Umbriel managed to beat the Asteroid Belt.  (Uranian moons do seem generally to punch above their weight, though Titania at last went down before Callisto.)

A couple of almost-upsets: Oberon nearly matched the Sun (those Uranian moons again!); Cerberus almost matched the Zones Cup king planet, Earth.

second round, 6-10 october:

no.1 seed: Jupiter  14   vs.  no.25 seed: Umbriel   3  

no.5 seed:  Mars  13   vs.  no.13 seed: Neptune  2  

no.3 seed: Venus  10   vs.  no.11 seed: The Moon   4   

no.7 seed: Pellucidar  3   vs.  no.15 seed: Vulcan  4

no.2 seed: Mercury  4   vs.  no.10 seed: Earth  2  

no.6 seed: Iapetus  5  vs.  no.14 seed: Uranus  5    

no.4 seed: Pallas  3   vs.  no.12 seed: The Sun  1   

no.8 seed: Saturn  11   vs.  no.16 seed: Callisto  8

Iapetus vs Uranus had to go to extra time.

11th October, extra time played:

no.6 seed: Iapetus  3  vs.  no.14 seed: Uranus  1    

The seeding committee were shocked at Vulcan's victory over last month's semi-finalists Pellucidar.  "We Vulcanians are hot stuff," commented their chief, "and hope to give the Venusians a run for their money."  However, the Venusian chief, Taman, said that Vulcan will have exhausted its supply of luck in beating the Pellucidarians, who are usually much the stronger team, with muscles toned by constant fighting against thipdars, mahars, Korsars, etc.

The Jupiter-Mars "grudge match" in the next round will involve high expenditure on security, as red Barsoomian fans are likely to clash with the Morgors of Sassoom.  The reigning champions have promised to show due courtesy to lesser breeds.  "We Jovians must show we are above arrogance," said their chief in a recent interview.  "After all, if a calot barks at one, does one have to bark back?"

quarter-finals, 11-15 october:

Jupiter, Mars, Venus and Mercury had likewise reached the quarter-finals the previous month.  Vulcan, Iapetus, Pallas and Saturn, in reaching these October quarter-finals, did better than they had done in September.

no.1 seed:  Jupiter  9    vs.  no.5 seed:  Mars  8   

no.3 seed:  Venus  14   vs.  no.15 seed:  Vulcan  6

no.2 seed:  Mercury   13   vs.  no.6 seed:  Iapetus  11

no.4 seed:  Pallas   5    vs.   no.8 seed:  Saturn  12 

The Mars team went into the match very much as the under-calots, and were quite pleased to lose by only one point.

semi-finals, 16-20 october:

no.1 seed:  Jupiter  10  vs.   no.3 seed:  Venus  18  

no.2 seed:  Mercury  19  vs.   no.8 seed:  Saturn   25

All four teams in the semi-final line-up were major planets - unlike last month.

The Jupiter-Venus match was a reprise of last month's line-up.  On that occasion, Venus was expected to win.  This time the odds were being laid the other way - the Jovians (the reigning champions) were the favourites.  But just like last month, the favourites lost.

A bitter upset was Saturn's win.  Saturnians were enjoying a vogue, but pundits still expected the Mercurians to thrash them. 

Now, like last month, we shall have an "inner versus outer planet" final.

the final, 21-25 october 2016:

no.3 seed:  Venus  9   vs.  no.8 seed:  Saturn  10

So the winner of the October 2016 Interplanetary Knock-Out is

Saturn

Another cliff-hanging final, though at least it didn't have to go to extra time as it did last month.

Blue-skinned Khol Kor accepted the trophy on behalf of the Saturnian team, while his more nebular compatriots hovered overhead.  At the start of the competition, no one had expected the Ringed Planet to win, but now the pundits were hastening to explain (in retrospect) the rationale of the victory.  A great pressure of popularity had built up, a demand to fathom the mystery of the huge, beautiful, comparatively neglected world.

september 2016

Thirty-two teams took part in the competition, so that there were 5 knock-out rounds.

The teams, in alphabetical order, were:

Ariel, Asteroids, Callisto, Cerberus, Ceres, Comets, Earth, Europa, Ganymede, Iapetus, Io, Jupiter, Leda, Mars, Mercury, Moon, Neptune, Oberon, Pellucidar, Pluto, Reefs of Space, Rings of Saturn, Saturn, Styx, Sun, Titan, Titania, Triton, Umbriel, Uranus, Venus, Vulcan.

(The Rings of Saturn team was formed from the vagabonds and riff-raff prospecting thereabouts.)

(Ceres won separate representation from the Asteroids, as the Cereans look down their probosces upon those smaller minor planets who have not achieved gravitational rounding.)

(Pellucidar and Earth were granted separate teams by the Fédération Interplanetaire de Jeux de Frappes, as the teams are too separated geographically to be able to train as a unit.)

For the first competition, September 2016, the teams were seeded in accordance with their ability to "hit" the attention of the judges during August 2016. 

Note: the inhabitants of Pallas have lodged a complaint concerning the omission of their team.  The FIJF will be considering their case for the October competition.  The Palladians say they should go in instead of Vulcan, because Vulcan does not exist whereas Pallas does.  The Vulcanians in turn accuse the Palladians of realism, and insist that non-existent worlds and their non-existent populations have just as much right as existent ones to take part in HI.  According to an FIJF spokesbeing: "There is no question of realism - the Vulcanians can rest assured that their place is secure.  However we are looking at the status of the Rings of Saturn team... they may have to combine with their parent planet in future competitions, thus leaving a space for Pallas."  This statement has elicited a warning from the Jovian delegation: "If the Saturnians are allowed to include their Ring players, we must be allowed to include the hits gained by our special Red Spot team."  And so it goes on.  The Committee are working round the clock to achieve a consensus.

First round (1-5 September) results - winners underlined, scores in red:

no.1 seed: Mercury 14  vs.   no. 17 seed: The Reefs of Space 9

no.9 seed: Neptune 3  vs.  no.25 seed: Oberon 4

no.5 seed: Mars 17  vs.  no. 21 seed: Rings of Saturn 1

no.13 seed: The Sun 7  vs.  no.29 seed: Leda 4

no.3 seed: Pellucidar 13  vs.  no.19 seed:  Iapetus 11

no.11 seed: Uranus 10   vs.  no.27 seed: Ganymede 5

no.7 seed: The Asteroids 13  vs.  no.23 seed: Comets 3

no.15 seed: Umbriel 2  vs.  no.31 seed: Europa 5

no.2 seed: Venus 23  vs.  no.18 seed: Pluto 10

no.10 seed: Saturn 7  vs.  no.26 seed: Ariel 4

no.6 seed: The Moon 8  vs.  no.22 seed: Styx 3

no.14 seed: Triton 3  vs.  no.30 seed: Io 4

no.4 seed: Jupiter 14  vs.  no.20 seed: Cerberus 3

no.12 seed: Vulcan 6   vs.  no.28 seed: Titania 2

no.8 seed: Earth 12  vs.  no.24 seed: Callisto 4

no.16 seed: Titan 6  vs.  no.32 seed: Ceres 13

The seeding seems to have worked out appropriately for the most part.  The two main upsets are, Oberon's victory over mighty Neptune, and Ceres' over Titan - we saw a mad waving of tentacles in the Cerean stadium as the home team triumphed over the frigid Titanics.

Second round (6-10 September) results - winners underlined, scores in red:

no.1 seed: Mercury 11  vs.   no.25 seed: Oberon 7

no.5 seed: Mars 8  vs.   no.13 seed: The Sun 6

no.3 seed: Pellucidar 8  vs.   no.11 seed: Uranus 7

no.7 seed: The Asteroids 8  vs.   no.31 seed: Europa 3

no.2 seed: Venus 7  vs.   no.10 seed: Saturn 4

no.6 seed: The Moon 4  vs.   no.30 seed: Io 3 

no.4 seed: Jupiter 12  vs.   no.12 seed: Vulcan 4

no.8 seed: Earth 3  vs.   no.32 seed: Ceres 8

The second round brought one upset - Ceres' victory over mighty Earth.  The manager of the Earth team promptly resigned.  The Cereans' reputation as giant-killers made some oxygen-breathers wonder if they might have a chance against the Jovians in the quarter-finals, though methane-breathers were rooting for Jupiter.

The closest match was expected to be that between Pellucidar and The Asteroids.  Separately their scores were exactly level in the competition so far.

Quarter-final (11-15 September) results - winners underlined, scores in red:

no.1 seed Mercury 17  vs.   no.5 seed Mars 8

no.3 seed Pellucidar 12  vs.   no.7 seed The Asteroids 8

no.2 seed Venus 16  vs.   no.6 seed The Moon 7

no.4 seed Jupiter 9  vs.   no.32 seed Ceres 5

No surprises in the quarter-finals.  Methane-breathers and Outer Solar System supporters now rested all their hopes on Jupiter.  Terrans, naturally, were supporting Pellucidar.  However, the way the two inner planets were playing, it looked like a "hot-world final" between them was in the offing.

However, it was not to be.

Semi-final (16-20 September) results - winners underlined, scores in red:

no.1 seed  Mercury  17  vs.   no.3 seed  Pellucidar  12

no 2 seed  Venus  18  vs.   no. 4 seed  Jupiter  21

So the seeding committee didn't get it completely right after all: Jupiter upset the pundits in a late surge that overtopped the Venusians.

The final (21-25 September) resulted in the following result between two powerful planets at the top of their form:

no.1 seed Mercury   25   vs.    no. 4 seed Jupiter   25

A tie!  Jupiter's enormous size and variety opposed to Mercury's vibrant Twilight Belt mystery and Sunside abundance of solar energy resulted in the scores matching each other! 

Rather than share the trophy, the teams agreed to play on into extra time. 

Results from extra time played 26th September 2016:

no.1 seed Mercury   1   vs.    no. 4 seed Jupiter   4

So the winner of the September 2016 Interplanetary Knock-Out is

Jupiter

Curt Newton alias Captain Future on behalf of FIJF presented the trophy to Vorion, head of the Jovian team, who took it in his skeletal hands and held it aloft.  Security was tight and there was no trouble, though outside the stadium some Methane Power activists were protesting at the alleged over-representation of humanoids on the giant planet's team...