27-year-old Ryūnosuke Tsukue, a professional Squash player, is right now at the very top of his game. Clearly established as Japan’s no. 1, he recently won his 11th title in the Professional Squash Association (PSA) Squash Tour, making him Japan’s most titled player ever. In April he achieved the highest world ranking position in his career, 47th in a sport that is highly popular world-wide and especially in Asian countries, and where the standard of competition at the top is incredibly tight.
To start 2025, he had a remarkable success in the Motor City Open in Detroit, USA: “The Japanese No.1 Tsukue, who is currently placed 23 spots behind Timothy Brownell in the world rankings, delivered a performance full of terrific shot-making to defeat the US No.1 in front of a packed crowd,” it was reported. “Despite losing out in a nip-and-tuck third-game tie-break, Tsukue bounced back impressively to contain the attacking threats of Brownell.”
5-year title success in Japan’s top event
Then came the Yokohama Open on home ground, where Tsukue took his latest title. This has been a pinnacle in his annual season for quite some time; it was his fifth Yokohama title in a row! He first won it in 2021 when he was 22 years old.
This latest success didn’t come easily, however, in an event where he was seeded no. 3 behind Hong Kong, China duo Alex Lau and Henry Leung. He won over top seed Lau in the semi-final, Lau having beaten Tsukue in their last two meetings, but had to do things the hard way, seeing a 2-game lead wiped away before eventually coming through in a deciding fifth game.
That set him up for a final showdown against second seed Leung, in what was the pair’s first-ever matchup on the PSA Squash Tour. Spurred on by an excited home crowd, the players split the first two games, but it was game three that would prove to be crucial, as Tsukue came out on top of a nail-biting tiebreak, going on to close out victory in the fourth game.
Started playing Squash at the age of 5
“I started when I was 5 years old,” tells Tsukue. “At the age of 17, I became the youngest winner of the All-Japan Championships and reached the quarter-finals at the World Junior Championships.”
He reached the individual top 8 in the 2022 Asian Games; he still sees this as his biggest achievement in the sport. At 24 he started to play full-time on the PSA tour, and since then, his playing career has gone from strength to strength. He became Japan’s most titled player in 2023 when he won his seventh PSA Tour event at the Austrian Open. “I play about 15 tournaments a year; I've competed in more than 20 countries,” he says.
“The result I’m most proud of is reaching the top 32 at the World Championships 2024 in Egypt,” he concludes. In this year’s world championships in Chicago, he was defeated in the first round by the Indian Ramit Tandon, after winning the first game.
Along with his full-time playing career, he is involved in activities to promote Squash in Japan.
A very athletic sport
“I do physical training in the morning and hitting in the afternoon, five or six days a week,” says Tsukue. “I usually do physical training with my trainer, focusing on fundamental body movements.”
Watching Tsukue play is an experience that often generates enthusiastic amazement from the commentator: “How on earth does he do that?” as he produces a winning return from a seemingly impossible angle, demonstrating incredible athletic skills.
Good tactics are essential
In Squash,
being always in a good position in the court is fundamental to creating an advantage over your opponent. Dominating the centre of the court, making your opponent do the running around, is a tactic used a lot by skilled players.
“I adjust my tactics and strategy depending on the opponent,” tells Tsukue. “To prepare, I watch videos of their matches before the game.”
Planning tactics, through studying how the opponent plays and his strengths or weaknesses, is a vital part of preparing for a game. Different strengths and ways of playing divide expert players into four categories: power players, shotmakers, retrievers and attritional players.
Getting ready for Chengdu
“I'm not doing any special preparation, but I'd like to learn a bit of Chinese,” says Tsukue. “I'm looking forward to interacting with athletes from other sports, and that's what I'm most excited about.”
Tsukue’s normal preparation could carry him far in the Chengdu competitions. He is the only Japanese competitor amongst the 32 qualified for the men’s singles, who will be representing 21 nations in all. His first The World Games will be another landmark in a flourishing and developing sporting career.