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Professional Squash Association

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Professional Squash Association
SportSquash
JurisdictionInternational
AbbreviationPSA
Founded1975 (1975)
LocationLeeds, England, United Kingdom
President
ChairmanSaudi Arabia Ziad Al-Turki
CEOWales Alex Gough
Director
  • Egypt Ahmad Bassam
  • United States Ashley Bernhard
  • Switzerland Claudia Schurmann
  • England Daryl Selby
  • United States John Nimick
  • United States Mike Puertas
Other key staff
SponsorDunlop
Official website
www.psasquashtour.com
2024–25 PSA Squash Tour

The Professional Squash Association, aka PSA, is the governing body for the men's and women's professional squash circuit. The body operates in a similar fashion to the ATP and the WTA for tennis.[1] The PSA's highest professional level, the PSA World Tour involves over 250 tournaments annually around the world. Over 1,200 players from five continents and more than 60 countries are registered with the PSA.[2] Rankings are updated weekly based on performances.

Squash Tour

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PSA Squash Tour comprises the most important tournaments in prize money for more experienced and higher-ranked players, including the World Championship and Tour Finals, labelled as following:

  • Diamond Tier: 48-player draws for $300,000
  • Platinum Tier: 48-player draws for $190,000
  • Gold Tier: 24-player draws for $100,000
  • Silver Tier: 24-player draws for $75,000
  • Bronze Tier: 24-player draws for $50,000
  • Copper Tier: 24-player draws for $25,000

Every year, the top eight performers compete in the PSA World Tour Finals. The players are separated into two groups of four, and play a round robin. The top two from each group advance to the semifinals (A1 vs B2; B1 vs A2). The winner of the event is crowned the World Tour champion.[3]

Challenger Tour

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PSA Challenger Tour tournaments are entry point for young and upcoming professionals progressing through to a more international level of competition. It offers $3,000–$30,000 prize money and is the ideal circuit for less-experienced and upcoming players.

  • PSA Challenger 30 — $30,000
  • PSA Challenger 20 — $20,000
  • PSA Challenger 15 — $15,000
  • PSA Challenger 12 — $12,000
  • PSA Challenger 9 — $9,000
  • PSA Challenger 6 — $6,000
  • PSA Challenger 3 — $3,000

Satellite Tour

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PSA Satellite Tour comprises of closed national championships or tournaments where entry is restricted to members of an association that promotes the tournament.

Background

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In January 2013, the PSA announced, along with U.S. Squash, the creation of a new tournament series called the US Pro Squash Series. This tournament series is used to support marketing activities for tournaments in the United States.[4]

In November 2014, the WSA and the PSA announced a historic merger between the two associations.[5] A decision was reached to designate the PSA operate as the governing body for both the women's and men's ranks from 1 January 2015.

On 7 December 2020 the PSA reached an agreement with Dunlop that extends Dunlop's tenure as the provider of official balls and official racquets for the PSA. The extension is three years.[6]

World rankings

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PSA publishes weekly rankings of professional players: PSA World Rankings (commonly known as the ‘World rankings’).

Current champions

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Awards

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Video game

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PSA World Tour Squash 2015
Developer(s)Team6 Game Studios
Publisher(s)Alternative Software
Platform(s)Wii
Release
  • EU: 22 May 2015
Genre(s)Sport simulation
Mode(s)Single-player

A PSA-licensed video game titled PSA World Tour Squash 2015 has been developed by Team6 Game Studios and published by Alternative Software, and was released only in various European countries on 22 May 2015, exclusively for Nintendo's Wii console.[9] The game features the likeness of several professional squash players such as Nick Matthew, Amr Shabana, Grégory Gaultier, Ramy Ashour, and many others, and takes place in many iconic, global squash courts. Players can compete in main World Tour, or set up their own tournaments with using custom player avatars and stats. The game also supports Wii MotionPlus, allowing users an enhanced, real-time squash motion control gameplay experience, (Official website) and is the last ever game for the console to do so.

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "PSA World Rankings – Men's". Professional Squash Association. Retrieved 9 June 2018.
  2. ^ "PSA World Rankings – Women's". Professional Squash Association. Retrieved 9 June 2018.
  3. ^ "World Tour Finals: Tournament History". PSA World Tour. 31 May 2019. Retrieved 6 February 2024.
  4. ^ "US Pro Squash Series Standings". Professional Squash Association. Archived from the original on 17 March 2014.
  5. ^ "WSA And PSA To Join Forces In Historic Merger". Squash Site. 30 October 2014. Retrieved 9 June 2018.
  6. ^ "PSA and Dunlop Announce Partnership Renewal". PSA World Tour. 7 December 2020. Retrieved 19 June 2021.
  7. ^ "Current PSA World Rankings". PSA World Tour, Inc.
  8. ^ "Current PSA World Rankings". PSA World Tour, Inc.
  9. ^ Calvert, Darren (29 April 2015). "Just When You Thought the Humble Wii Was Dead, Here Comes PSA World Tour Squash". Nintendo Life. Retrieved 30 April 2015.
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