The badminton queue app for open play and club nights
Who plays next, with whom, on which court, and who owes what. The app keeps track so the host can play too.
By Albert Antioquia · Updated
Every badminton group has a way of deciding who plays next. In the UK and Australia it is a peg board at club night. In Canadian rec centres it is the rotation rule posted at drop-in. In the Philippines it is open play with a queue master and a list of names, and in Indonesia it is a group mabar session. They all break the same way once the hall is busy: the list loses track of who has played, the same four end up together, and the host spends the night refereeing the queue.
PaQueueKa replaces the board, the whiteboard or the group-chat list with a queue on everyone’s phone. It is built by a badminton player in the Philippines for a weekly group of friends, and it runs pickleball sessions too.
How a session runs
- Create the session. Pick badminton, set the courts (1 to 12) and the rotation mode. The app shows a six-character code and a QR.
- Players join. They enter the code, their name and their badminton level. No sign-up needed. Walk-ins without the app are added by the host.
- Courts fill with fair doubles. The default rotation picks the next four from who has played least, balances the two pairs by level, and avoids repeating partners.
- Next Up shows who is next on every court, so nobody crowds the host. Send a set to a free court in one tap, or build sets by hand.
- Record the result. Score hints to 21. In club sessions, wins, streaks and rankings update on their own.
- Split the fees. Court hire and shuttles, split evenly, by games played, per game or at a fixed rate, with a paid/unpaid list.
Rotation modes
| Mode | Who plays next | Plan |
|---|---|---|
| PaQueueKa Rotation | Fewest games first, balanced by level, new partners | Free |
| First in, first out | Strict queue order: whoever has waited longest | Pro Host |
| Challenger’s Court | Winners stay on, up to a number of straight wins you set | Pro Host |
Bonded partners stay on the same side in every mode, for couples or a fixed pair. More detail in rotation modes.
Made for badminton
- A badminton court on screen and score hints to 21.
- A badminton level (Beginner, Novice, Intermediate, Advanced, Expert), kept separately from your pickleball level.
- Shuttles in the fee split, alongside court hire, in the session’s own currency.
- Clubs with members, Open Play events with RSVPs, a pinned venue, and seasonal rankings. Joining a club is free; running one is Pro Host. See clubs and Open Play.
What it doesn’t do (yet)
- It doesn’t book courts or take payments; it works out the split and tracks who has paid.
- It doesn’t run tournaments yet. Tournament Mode is in development.
- The app is in English only.
Questions
Is PaQueueKa free for badminton sessions?
Yes. Hosting and joining sessions, the default rotation, Next Up, fee splitting and stats are free. Pro Host is a subscription for running clubs and adds the First in, first out and Challenger’s Court rotation modes.
Do all the players need the app?
No. Players with the app join with the session code and see Next Up on their own phones. The host can add anyone else by name, and they are rotated like everyone else.
Which countries and languages?
PaQueueKa is on the App Store and Google Play in the Philippines, the US, Canada, Australia, the UK, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia and many other countries. The app is in English, and fees can be shown in your own currency.
Guides for badminton hosts and players
- How to run a fair badminton open play: courts-to-players maths and rotation rules.
- Club night formats: peg boards, ladders and queues compared.
- Badminton doubles rules, including the 3×15 scoring change.
- Doubles strategy: attack and defence positions.
- Odd numbers of players: fair sit-out rotations for 5, 6, 7 and 9.
Run your next badminton session in PaQueueKa
Create a session, share the code, and the queue runs itself. Free to host and join on iPhone and Android.