Like lots of PSA pros, Noor Zaman starts the 2026/27 season with his sights set on the glistening hills of Los Angeles in 2028 — but not many other squash players can claim to have FOUR credible opportunities of Olympic qualification.
Zaman is currently Pakistan no.1 and 29th in the PSA world rankings. With 21 months to go until the qualification cut-off date (22 May 2028), his prospects of securing one of the precious 16 places in the men's draw at LA28 have a unique complexion.
At the time of writing, it is just under a month before the 22-year-old sets off to Aichia-Nagoya, Japan, for his first crack at Olympic glory via the 2026 Asian Games. There, he is likely to be third seed behind Malaysia's Eain Yow Ng and Abhay Singh of India.
If Zaman fails to win gold in Japan (and with it a berth in squash's first ever Olympic draw), he will have a more than realistic second chance via his world ranking.
As things currently stand (24 August 2026), he would not quite make it into the eight allocated places earned via players' world ranking — but he is very close.
Zaman is just two positions behind the player who would currently claim the eighth and last place via the world ranking pathway, which is Colombia's 40-year-old Miguel Rodriguez at world no.26. Currently in ninth position is Greg Lobban (now of Australia) at no.28, and then comes Zaman.
A not-inconceivable move above those two players (who are both over a decade older than him) in the rankings in the next 21 months would move Zaman into position to potentially claim a ticket to LA.
The next LA28 qualification pathway is what distinguishes Zaman's case from that of his rivals.
One spot in each LA28 draw (one men's, one women's) is allocated to so-called Universality Places. These are intended to boost diversity in Olympic competitions and the recipients of these are decided by the IOC Tripartite Commission.
Although the criteria for deciding which athletes receive Universality Places are somewhat opaque, an important factor is that they represent nations who've had an average of eight or fewer athletes across all sports at the most recent two Olympic Games.
In squash's case, the recipient must also be inside the top 75 in the world rankings on 22 May 2028.
Currently, no male player fulfils both those criteria, but Zaman is by far the closest: his ranking is very likely to remain in the top 75 by May 2028, and Pakistan had an average of 8.5 athletes at the last two Olympic Games: seven at Paris 2024 and 10 at Tokyo 2020.
There are also several precedents: of the seven Pakistanis who competed in Paris, three qualified via receiving a Universality Place (one sprinter and two swimmers). So Pakistan's National Olympic Committee are no strangers to the application process.
By Squash Player's calculations, no other nation represented in the top 75 of the PSA men's rankings even comes close to having an average of eight or fewer athletes at the last two Olympics. The next potential applicant looks to be Sri Lanka (six athletes in Paris; nine in Tokyo) who have Ravindu Laksiri currently at world no.164.
If he still needs it, Zaman's last Olympics chance would be via the Final Qualifying Tournament from 6-10 June 2028, which will have a draw of 24 players (maximum one from each country) from nations not yet represented in the other qualification pathways. Not only would Zaman come into play here, but he could well be amongst the top seeds. And if he wins, he'll be an Olympian.
Speaking to Squash Player, his coach and grandfather, the legendary former British Open winner Qamar Zaman, rated Noor's chances of qualifying at '80%'.
"I will be the happiest man to see him playing in the Olympics — more than when I won my British Open!" said the 74-year-old, who also finished runner-up in four World Opens.
"It would be a big boost for squash in Pakistan. People would be happy, sponsors would come, and other youngsters could see their chance."
For his career achievements thus far, including winning the World U23 Championship in Karachi in April last year, Noor was recently honoured with the President’s Pride of Performance Award, the most prestigious civil award in Pakistan.
Noor said he felt "truly blessed and grateful to Allah Almighty" for the honour, adding: "For my family, this is an incredibly emotional and proud moment. They have made many sacrifices for my career and have supported me at every stage."
His grandfather Qamar and uncle, the former world no.11 Mansoor Zaman, are previous winners of the President’s Pride of Performance Award. Noor is coached by his father Munawar, another ex-squash professional.
Qamar says of his grandson's Olympic prospects: "My view is he has an 80% chance. The 20% is because you never know. It might not be his day. In squash, this happens. There are good days and bad days.
"But he's brave. He's a fighter. I think he will qualify if he works hard and concentrates. He's had a very strong summer of training and he is looking sharp. I hope, inshallah, as his grandfather, that he can make it."
