Pakistan’s rising squash star Noor Zaman achieved a career-best ranking, climbing to World No. 28 in the Professional Squash Association (PSA) rankings.
The 22-year-old secured the milestone after reaching the quarterfinals of the Optasia Squash Championship 2026. His performance earned him 450 ranking points, increasing his total to 312.
Zaman moved up three places in the rankings, overtaking England’s Declan James, Switzerland’s Nicolas Mueller, and Colombia’s Juan Vargas. His previous best ranking was No. 29, achieved earlier this month on March 2.
At the top of the rankings, Egypt’s Mostafa Asal remained World No. 1 with 2,639 points. New Zealand’s Paul Coll and Mexico’s Diego Elias held the second and third positions, respectively.
Zaman, who won the Nash Cup title in September last year, impressed at the Optasia Championship with notable victories. He began his campaign with a hard-fought 3-2 win over Egypt’s Mazen Hesham in a 46-minute match.
Zaman took the opening game convincingly, 11-4, but Hesham responded by winning the second game 11-7. The pattern continued over the next two games, with both players trading leads and forcing a deciding game.
In the final game, Zaman delivered a dominant performance, winning 11-2 to seal the match with a scoreline of 11-4, 7-11, 11-3, 12-14, 11-2.
In the second round, Zaman defeated World No. 14 Leonel Cardenas in straight games, winning 11-7, 11-5, 11-7 to advance to the quarterfinals.
His run ended in the quarterfinal stage after a tough match against Diego Elias, who went on to finish as the tournament runner-up.
