In golf, par is a good thing. In squash, it remains to be seen. But beginning in April 2009, the Official Rules of Squash will be changed to adopt PAR-11 scoring as the standard rather than traditional Hand-in, Hand-out (Hi-Ho) scoring to nine points.
While the Annual General Meetings held in conjunction with the World Open are traditionally docile, this year’s assembly in Manchester was full of lively debate as the merits of Hi-Ho scoring were argued vehemently by some. According to the WSF, however, survey statistics among those who have tested Par-11 have shown few to no complaints about the system.
While Par-11 carried a large majority of votes during the adoption phase, the WSF Management Committee agreed to allow both Hi-Ho and Par-11 scoring systems to remain side by side in the rules, thus allowing either system to be used worldwide.
The first major WSF event to use Par-11 scoring will be the Women’s World Team Championships in Cairo in December.
Asked to comment, U.S. SQUASH CEO Kevin Klipstein said, “We supported the adoption of PAR-11 as the official scoring at the meeting. We currently, and will continue to, sanction tournament and league play using either PAR or HiHo. We are also in the process of surveying pros, coaches and competition directors about the anticipated change to get suggestions for the timing for this season and next.”
