How the squash world ranking works
Why can a squash player who wins less often still rank above one who plays everywhere?
Because the PSA ranking is an average, not a total. A player's points from their best tournaments of the last year are added up and divided by a set number, which depends on how many tournaments they played. Playing 15 or fewer, the total is divided by 11. Playing more, the divisor rises.
Points depend on the tournament's level. Winning the World Championships is worth 3,500; a Diamond event 3,100; a Platinum event 2,800; Gold 1,800; Silver 1,350; Bronze 900; Copper 500. Lower-level Challenger events give 60 to 300 to the winner. A continental championship, such as the Asian Championships, gives 300.
Points last 52 weeks. A new list comes out every Monday.
The one thing to remember: in squash, a few big results are worth more than many small ones, because the ranking is an average.
The formula
Ranking points = total points from the counting tournaments ÷ the number of counting tournaments.
| Tournaments played in 52 weeks | 15 or fewer | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Counting tournaments (the divisor) | 11 | 12 | 12 | 13 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 20 |
Above 24, each extra tournament adds one counting tournament.
What counts: the World Championships result always counts. The rest are any disciplinary, medical or penalty zeros, then the best-scoring tournaments.
Check for Gate 1: the jump from 17 at 23 tournaments to 20 at 24 looks out of line with the rest of the table. And the table suggests a player with fewer than 11 tournaments still divides by 11; the rule book does not say so in words.
Points by level (World and Challenger events)
| Level | Winner | Runner-up | Semi-final | Quarter-final | Last 16 | Last 32 | Last 64 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| World Championships | 3,500 | 2,275 | 1,400 | 875 | 525 | 321 | 196 |
| Diamond | 3,100 | 2,015 | 1,240 | 775 | 465 | 284 | 173.5 |
| Platinum | 2,800 | 1,820 | 1,120 | 700 | 420 | 257 | |
| Gold | 1,800 | 1,170 | 720 | 450 | 270 | 165 | |
| Silver | 1,350 | 877.5 | 540 | 337.5 | 202.5 | 124 | |
| Bronze | 900 | 585 | 360 | 225 | 135 | 82.5 | |
| Copper | 500 | 325 | 200 | 125 | 75 | 46 | |
| Challenger 15 | 300 | 195 | 120 | 75 | 45 | 27.5 | |
| Challenger 3 | 60 | 39 | 24 | 15 | 9 | 5.5 |
Challenger 12, 9 and 6 sit in between (240, 180 and 120 to the winner). Satellite events give 30 to the winner.
Federation events
| Event | Winner | Runner-up | Semi-final | Quarter-final |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Continental championships (senior) | 300 | 195 | 120 | 75 |
| National championships (senior) | 100 | 65 | 40 | 25 |
| World Championships (under-23) | 200 | 130 | 80 | 50 |
Junior (under-19 and under-17) events also give smaller points. Points from satellite and federation events count only if the player claims them on the PSA site within seven days.
The Tour Finals
The season-ending PSA Squash Tour Finals do not count as a tournament played. Their points are a bonus added to the total: 150 for each round-robin win, 200 for a semi-final, 550 for the runner-up, 1,000 for the winner, plus 150 for going through unbeaten.
Expiry
52 weeks from the next list after the tournament. Points from the World Championships, Tour Finals, Diamond and Platinum events last between 49 and 55 weeks, so that dates shifting from one year to the next do not matter.
A worked example
Made up to show the arithmetic. A player plays 16 tournaments in a year, so 12 count. Their best 12 (including the World Championships last 16): 525 + two Gold semi-finals (720 each) + three Silver quarter-finals (337.5 each) + a Bronze title (900) + five Copper quarter-finals (125 each). Total: 525 + 1,440 + 1,012.5 + 900 + 625 = 4,502.5. Divided by 12: about 375.2 ranking points.
Where to see it
psasquashtour.com, rankings, every Monday.
Variations
| Ranking | Covered here |
|---|---|
| PSA World Rankings, men and women | Yes |
| Junior rankings | No |
| Doubles and mixed | No: not in the PSA World Rankings |