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A Ping-pong Game

Source: 1999 National High School Mathematics League, Exam One, Problem 5

March 10, 2020

Problem Statement

In a ping-pong game, it was planned to have a competition between any two players. But three players quit the game after having 2 competitions. In the end, the number of competitions played is 50. So the number of competitions between the three players is (A)0(B)1(C)2(D)3\text{(A)}0\qquad\text{(B)}1\qquad\text{(C)}2\qquad\text{(D)}3