The Professional Squash Association (PSA) is the governing body for the men's professional squash circuit. The body operates in a similar fashion to the ATP for tennis. The PSA World Tour involves over 120 tournaments annually all over the globe. Over 470 players are registered with the PSA and rankings are updated monthly based on players' performances.
There are hundreds of PSA tournaments throughout the course of a season of the PSA World Tour, and they are classified into the following categories, based on prize money:
- Closed Satellite (Closed Satellite tournaments can either be National Closed Championships or a tournament/series of tournaments whose entry is restricted to members of an association that promotes the tournament).
- Challenger (Challenger tournaments are entry point for young and or up and coming professionals progressing through to a more international level of competition). Tournaments start with a total of $5,000 :
PSA Challenger 15 $15,000 - $24,999 PSA Challenger 10 $10,000 - $14,999 PSA Challenger 5 $5,000 - $9,999)
- International (These events range from larger club events and entry point glass court events all the way through to higher profile glass court events) :
PSA International 70 $70,000+ PSA International 50 $50,000 - $69,999 PSA International 35 $35,000 - $49,999 PSA International 25 $25,000 - $34,999
- World Series (The PSA World Series is a select group of high profile squash tournaments easily recognised. They offer the largest prize money and attract the majority of the world's best players) :
PSA World Series Platinum - $150,000 PSA World Series Gold - $115,000
- World Championship (This is the ultimate tournament on the World Tour and to become World Champion is regarded the highest pinnacle of competitive achievement amongst PSA players. With a 64-man draw, this tournament is the most physically and mentally challenging of the season).
Every year, the top eight performers from the various World Series events gather for the PSA World Series Finals. The eight 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 and B1 vs. A2). The winner of the event is crowned World Series champion.
On January 17, 2006, 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 five years.
The women's squash game is governed by the Women's Squash Association (WSA).
Famous quotes containing the words professional, squash and/or association:
“The professional celebrity, male and female, is the crowning result of the star system of a society that makes a fetish of competition. In America, this system is carried to the point where a man who can knock a small white ball into a series of holes in the ground with more efficiency than anyone else thereby gains social access to the President of the United States.”
—C. Wright Mills (1916–1962)
“I am filling the room
with the words from my pen.
Words leak out of it like a miscarriage.
I am zinging words out into the air
and they come back like squash balls.
Yet there is silence.”
—Anne Sexton (1928–1974)
“With all their faults, trade-unions have done more for humanity than any other organization of men that ever existed. They have done more for decency, for honesty, for education, for the betterment of the race, for the developing of character in man, than any other association of men.”
—Clarence Darrow (1857–1938)