Two friends A and B participate in a tennis competition. There are 14 other players, all 16 are of equal level of play. First couple is selected at random and in the next round the winner remains, getting an opponent at random and so on - all together 15 games to define the champion.
What is the probability that at some stage of the competition A will face B ?
Combinatorics approach
The number of possible pairings = 16*15/2 = 8*15
The number of games = 15.
So, 1/8 of all possible pairings will actually play a game.
Final answer = 1/8
Simple (spoiler)
