diff --git a/scripts/backfill/__tests__/match-tournament.test.ts b/scripts/backfill/__tests__/match-tournament.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..484ee30
--- /dev/null
+++ b/scripts/backfill/__tests__/match-tournament.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,44 @@
+import { describe, it, expect } from "vitest";
+import { extractTournamentIdentity } from "../match-tournament";
+
+describe("extractTournamentIdentity", () => {
+  it("uses eventDate year when the name has no trailing year", () => {
+    const identity = extractTournamentIdentity({
+      name: "Masters Tournament",
+      eventDate: "2026-04-09",
+      eventType: "tournament",
+    });
+
+    expect(identity).toEqual({ name: "Masters Tournament", year: 2026 });
+  });
+
+  it("derives the year from eventDate for a simple tournament name", () => {
+    const identity = extractTournamentIdentity({
+      name: "Wimbledon",
+      eventDate: "2026-07-01",
+      eventType: "tournament",
+    });
+
+    expect(identity).toEqual({ name: "Wimbledon", year: 2026 });
+  });
+
+  it("strips a trailing year from the name and uses it as the canonical year", () => {
+    const identity = extractTournamentIdentity({
+      name: "Wimbledon 2026",
+      eventDate: "2026-07-01",
+      eventType: "tournament",
+    });
+
+    expect(identity).toEqual({ name: "Wimbledon", year: 2026 });
+  });
+
+  it("throws when neither the name nor eventDate supply a year", () => {
+    expect(() =>
+      extractTournamentIdentity({
+        name: "Wimbledon",
+        eventDate: null,
+        eventType: "tournament",
+      }),
+    ).toThrow(/cannot determine year/);
+  });
+});
diff --git a/scripts/backfill/match-tournament.ts b/scripts/backfill/match-tournament.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..e7c7c92
--- /dev/null
+++ b/scripts/backfill/match-tournament.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,57 @@
+/**
+ * Pure function(s) for extracting canonical tournament identity
+ * (name + year) from a `scoring_events` row.
+ *
+ * Used by the Phase 2 backfill to group per-window events into
+ * canonical `tournaments` rows.
+ */
+
+export interface ScoringEventInput {
+  name: string;
+  eventDate: string | null;
+  eventType: string;
+}
+
+export interface TournamentIdentity {
+  /** Tournament name with any trailing 4-digit year stripped. */
+  name: string;
+  year: number;
+}
+
+const TRAILING_YEAR_RE = / (\d{4})$/;
+
+/**
+ * Extracts the canonical `(name, year)` identity for a tournament
+ * from a scoring event.
+ *
+ * Resolution order for year:
+ *   1. A trailing 4-digit year on the event name (e.g. "Wimbledon 2026").
+ *      The year is stripped from the returned name.
+ *   2. The first 4 characters of `eventDate` (format `YYYY-MM-DD`).
+ *
+ * Throws if neither source supplies a year.
+ */
+export function extractTournamentIdentity(
+  ev: ScoringEventInput,
+): TournamentIdentity {
+  const trimmedName = ev.name.trim();
+  const match = trimmedName.match(TRAILING_YEAR_RE);
+
+  if (match) {
+    const yearFromName = Number(match[1]);
+    const nameWithoutYear = trimmedName.slice(0, match.index).trim();
+    return { name: nameWithoutYear, year: yearFromName };
+  }
+
+  if (ev.eventDate) {
+    const yearStr = ev.eventDate.slice(0, 4);
+    const yearFromDate = Number(yearStr);
+    if (Number.isFinite(yearFromDate) && yearStr.length === 4) {
+      return { name: trimmedName, year: yearFromDate };
+    }
+  }
+
+  throw new Error(
+    `cannot determine year for scoring event "${ev.name}" (eventDate=${ev.eventDate ?? "null"})`,
+  );
+}