7.3 million matches. Three sports. One algorithm. Independently validated by the Global Sports Innovation Center.
Today, the Global Sports Innovation Center (GSIC) powered by Microsoft awarded LevelTech its “GSIC Certified — Performance” designation, following an independent technical assessment of our racket sports rating system across squash, Squash57 and padel.
The full validation paper is published here.
For us, this is the moment a long-held conviction gets confirmed by someone outside the building: that racket sports finally have validated, calibrated rating infrastructure that works across sports.
Here is what the certification actually says, and why we think it matters.
The certification
The GSIC Testing Lab conducted an independent technical review of LevelTech’s algorithm using an operational dataset of 7.3 million matches, to our knowledge the largest dataset ever assembled for the evaluation of a racket sports rating system.
The review covered three sports: squash, Squash57 and padel, and tested the algorithm across competitive contexts, demographic subpopulations (gender, age, format), and geographic pools.
The “GSIC Certified — Performance” designation is reserved for technologies that meet GSIC’s standards on validated performance evidence. The full methodology and findings are set out in the published paper.
What the numbers say, and what they mean
There are two distinct measures in the validation report. Both matter, and they answer different questions.
Prediction accuracy — how often the higher-rated player wins:
This is the headline number. Across 7.26 million squash matches, the higher-rated player won 78.0% of the time overall, and 79.0% of the time in tournament and event play.
For context, traditional Elo and Glicko systems used widely across racket sports typically operate in the 65–75% range. Published bookmaker accuracy on comparable squash data sits around 74% — meaning LevelTech’s tournament accuracy sits approximately 5 percentage points above the published bookmaker benchmark on comparable tournament data.
On padel, including doubles play, the system achieved 80.0% overall prediction accuracy on the calibrated dataset of 10,500 matches — using the same core rating logic that runs on squash singles, adapted for the doubles format. Squash57 came in at 79.8%.
Performance remained stable across gender, age and format subpopulations, holding within a tight 78–84% accuracy band throughout.
Competitive precision — how often evenly-rated matches actually are close:
This is the second measure, and it is the one we think is most underrated in conversations about ratings.
A rating system can predict winners well and still fail at the thing federations and tournament organisers actually need: knowing which contests will be close. Seeding, league structure, matchmaking and grassroots development all rest on this, not on raw prediction.
Across the padel dataset, 91% of matches between players within a 10% rating gap turned out to be highly competitive contests. At within 25% gap, the figure was 88%. On squash, 79% of evenly-rated matches were highly competitive.
In plain terms: when LevelTech says two players are evenly matched, 91% of the time in padel, and 79% in squash — the match actually is.
One algorithm, multiple sports
One of the findings we are most pleased to see in the GSIC review is the algorithm’s cross-sport behaviour.
Many rating systems require fundamental redesigns when moved between disciplines — different scoring structures, different match formats, different competitive dynamics. LevelTech’s core methodology did not need rebuilding. It was extended.
The same underlying rating logic that produces 78% accuracy on squash singles produces 80% accuracy on padel doubles. Doubles required implementation work, but not a different algorithm, the logic generalises.
This is the empirical evidence behind our positioning as racket sports infrastructure, rather than a single-sport product.
Badminton and table tennis are next.
Why infrastructure
Most racket sports today operate with a patchwork of national ranking lists, club ladders, and app-specific scores that rarely talk to each other. The moment a player crosses a border, switches platforms, or moves between sports, their level is lost.
We believe player rating should be infrastructure, not a feature. A shared layer that travels with the player, comparable to a golf handicap or a Strava history. Independent of which club they play at, which federation they belong to, or which app they use to book courts.
The GSIC certification is the point at which we can say, with independent validation behind it, that the technical foundation for that infrastructure exists today. It is operating at federation scale in the Netherlands, Australia and New Zealand. It works across sports. And it has been measured.
A note on origin
Six years ago I came across SquashLevels almost by accident. Richard Bickers had already spent years obsessively building and refining the algorithmic foundations behind it. Countless late nights, endless modelling, and a genuine love of squash had driven him to think about ratings in a completely different way. He had already built meaningful traction within the sport and, once I started to understand both the numbers and what the system was actually doing beneath the surface, it became clear that he had created something genuinely special.
This was not just another ranking list. Richard had built a framework that actually described performance in a meaningful way, with a level of predictive accuracy and sporting insight that simply did not exist elsewhere in racket sports at the time.
What we have built since, PadelLevels, Squash57Levels, the federation integrations, the multi-sport platform that became LevelTech, and now this GSIC validation, all sit on top of that original work. The algorithm itself is Richard’s. It is the product of an exceptional mathematical mind combined with an almost relentless curiosity about how competitive sport should really be measured.
LevelTech has built the infrastructure around it: the platform, the partnerships, the integrations, and the vision to take it across multiple sports globally. But this certification is also a recognition of Richard’s original insight and the years of hard work that went into creating something genuinely different within racket sports.
What’s next
The full GSIC validation paper is available now:
Alternatively, please view a condensed infographic:
f you operate a federation, club, or tournament platform and would like to understand how the ratings layer integrates into your operations, get in touch via leveltech.io.
Badminton and table tennis are next.
Jethro Binns, co-CEO, LevelTech
