The Pro Kabaddi League 2025 season is entering its business stage as the playoffs beckon. The playoff matches will be held in Delhi, which promises to be an intriguing affair.
As we prepare for the playoffs,
the newly introduced PKL playoff system can be confusing for fans. The new system allows 8 teams to progress to the Playoffs, which includes a Play-in stage, Mini-Qualifier, Eliminators and more.
PKL decided to impose the new system to provide more transparency and balance the playoff extravaganza. A total of 9 matches will be played in the playoffs this year. In this article, we shall take a look at the complete PKL 2025 playoff system.
PKL 2025 Playoff System - Explained
The top four teams are kept in a bracket or Eliminators and Qualifiers, while 5th to 8th placed teams will participate in a play-in stage. The Top Two teams will participate in the Qualifier 1 and the winner directly advances to final.
Play-in Stage (5th to 8th place finishers)
The teams ranked 5th-8th face off in two play-in matches, and winners of these matches move forward to the Eliminator 1 round.
Match A: 5th vs 8th
Match B: 6th vs 7th
Mini-Qualifier (3rd and 4th place)
The teams that finished 3rd and 4th play each other in the Mini-Qualifier.
The winner goes straight to Eliminator 3 (closer to the final).
The loser gets another chance - they'll face the winner of Eliminator 1 in Eliminator 2.
Eliminator Matches
Eliminator 1: Between the two play-in winners.
Eliminator 2: Loser of Mini-Qualifier vs Winner of Eliminator 1.
Eliminator 3: Winner of Mini-Qualifier vs Winner of Eliminator 2.
Winner of Eliminator 3 advances to Qualifier 2.
Qualifiers for Final Spot
Qualifier 1: Top two league teams (1st and 2nd) play each other.
The winner goes directly to the Final.
The loser gets another chance in Qualifier 2.
Qualifier 2: Between the loser of Qualifier 1 and winner of Eliminator 3.
Winner of Qualifier 2 becomes the second finalist.
The Final
The winners of Qualifier 1 and Qualifier 2 meet in the grand final to decide the PKL 2025 Champion.
In this system, teams finishing in Top Two can win the PKL title with a minimum of 2 playoff matches. Incidentally, for a 5th-8th placed team, the PKL crown is possible but they will have to win all of their six playoff encounters.
PKL 2025 Playoffs Match Chronology
- Play-In Match 1
- Play-In Match 2
- Eliminator 1
- Mini-Qualifier
- Eliminator 2
- Qualifier 1
- Eliminator 3
- Qualifier 2
- Final
PKL 2025 Playoffs Schedule
The playoffs will start from October 25 and the final will be played on October 31. From the aforementioned, Match 1, 2 will be played on October 25, followed by Match 3, 4 (Oct 26), Match 5, 6 (Oct 27), Match 7 (Oct 28), Match 8 (Oct 29) and Match 9 (Oct 31).
PKL 2025 Playoffs Summary Table
| Stage | Teams Involved | Match Purpose |
|---|---|---|
| Play-in | 5th-8th | To reduce to best 2 for Eliminator 1 |
| Mini-Qualifier | 3rd vs 4th | Winner to Eliminator 3, loser to Eliminator 2 |
| Eliminators 1-3 | Winners progress towards Qualifier 2 | Elimination path |
| Qualifiers 1-2 | Top two + Eliminator winners | Final qualification |
| Final | Qualifier 1 Winner vs Qualifier 2 Winner | Champion decided |
