July World Rankings 2013

The ITTF has updated the rankings again! The new rankings were published on July 5, 2013. According to ITTF's calendar, the next release will be August 1, 2013.

--- Ma Long tops the July Rankings ---

After another early WTTC exit in the semi final, Ma Long picks up his usual business; winning World tours and being the World no.1. Ma Long passes Xu Xin, who drops down to the 2nd place.



Ma Long at the 2012 Olympics - Back at the top of the world. Photo by: Zimbio.com


June has been the month of the China Open and the Japan Open! Many top players travel to Asia for these big World Tours every year.


Fan Zhendong and Ng Wing Nam - U21 China Open winners - Photos by: ITTF

Certainly one of the World Tours with the strongest contestants every year is the China Open.
In the men's singles, out of the top 4 of the world only Zhang Jike had to drop out due to an injury. However the CNT could easily fill the gap with the younger talent Yan An. In the end it was Ma Long who grabbed the title, together with the world no.1 spot, after a convincing win over Wang Hao.

In the women's singles an old favorite showed up to play one of her last tournaments for China; Guo Yan even reached the final but was then beaten by Li Xiaoxia, who has been unstoppable lately.

While Yan An managed to beat Fan Zhendong easily in the men's singles, it was the other way round in the U21 boys' area. Fan first had problems against Patrick Franziska in the semi finals, but impressively added the U21 title to his name at the age of 16.

Also in the U21 girls main draw there were several young players, including Japan's Miyu Kato and Mima Ito. However, after a tough battle in the final, it was Hongkong's Ng Wing Nam who claimed the last prize.



Masato Shiono and Ai Fukuhara - Japan Open 2013 winners - Photos by: ITTF

A tournament of upsets is what the Japan Open 2013 could be called.
Various famous top players like Chuang Chih-Yuan, Wang Liqin, Hao Shuai and Jun Mizutani competed in this event, however the surprising finalists were Japan's chopper Masato Shiono and China's young talent Xu Chenhao. Xu had a lot of problems with Masato's heavy backspin shots and thus couldn't take home his first big prize. It was Masato who kept the prize for Japan by winning 4-0.

In the women's event Ai Fukuhara seemed to have found back her old form. On her way to the final even the talented Chinese Gu Yuting and Che Xiaoxi couldn't stop her. In the final she also posted a 4-0 victory over Moon Hyung Jung from Korea.

This month's notable changes
09 (33) Fan Zhendong
30 (42) Kim Min Seok
38 (55) Alexey Smirnov
45 (61) Patrick Franziska
57 (74) Omar Assar
71 (91) Alexey Liventsov
74 (92) Bora Vang
81 (213) Xu Chenhao
85 (188) Masato Shiono

06 (unr) Guo Yan
16 (10) Kim Kyungah
38 (50) Melek Hu
47 (77) Shan Xiaona
51 (70) Liu Gaoyang
54 (79) Ng Wing Nam
75 (unr) Che Xiaoxi
79 (129) Miyu Kato
85 (148) Liu Xi
97 (128) Mima Ito


Men's World Rankings
01 (02) Ma Long
02 (01) Xu Xin
03 (04) Wang Hao
04 (03) Zhang Jike
05 (<<) Timo Boll
06 (07) Dmitrij Ovtcharov
07 (06) Chuang Chih-Yuan
08 (<<) Ma Lin
09 (33) Fan Zhendong
10 (12) Yan An
11 (09) Wang Liqin
12 (10) Vladimir Samsonov
13 (<<) Hao Shuai
14 (11) Jun Mizutani
15 (14) Joo Se Hyuk
16 (15) Gao Ning
17 (16) Chen Qi
18 (17) Michael Maze
19 (<<) Koki Niwa
20 (22) Marcos Freitas
21 (23) Patrick Baum
22 (18) Jiang Tianyi
23 (24) Adrian Crisan
24 (26) Chen Chien-An
25 (21) Ryu Seung Min
26 (20) Oh Sang Eun
27 (<<) Bastian Steger
28 (<<) Kenta Matsudaira
29 (28) Lee Jung Woo
30 (31) Robert Gardos
30 (42) Kim Min Seok
32 (37) Andrej Gacina


Women's World Rankings
01 (<<) Ding Ning
02 (03) Li Xiaoxia
03 (02) Liu Shiwen
04 (<<) Feng Tianwei
05 (<<) Zhu Yuling
06 (unr) Guo Yan
07 (<<) Shen Yanfei
08 (06) Wu Yang
09 (08) Chen Meng
10 (12) Feng Yalan
11 (09) Ishikawa Kasumi
12 (14) Guo Yue
13 (11) Jiang Huajun
14 (15) Fukuhara Ai
15 (13) Pavlovich Viktoria
16 (10) Kim Kyungah


Discuss!

WHAT? Fan Zhendong is in 9 place! He got 300 point in one month! I see very good future for him. He is still 16 years old and in top ten!

Originally Posted by MDanielCRO

I wonder how did he get to the better place then Yan An who has made much better results :O

maybe ITTF just made a mistake in counting the points

Originally Posted by MDanielCRO

I wonder how did he get to the better place then Yan An who has made much better results :O

I agree. I was thinking the same thing.

But, this also means that China has 7 of the top 10 and 8 of the top 11. And Yan An will probably keep moving up till he is in the top 5 or 6. Fan may stay in the top 10 but he won't get too much higher until he is a little stronger.

Wow so much happened in this months world rankings! I am impressed, I actually thought Masato Shiono would have jumped higher considering the number of players he beat in the top 50. Xu Chenhao actually gained higher even tho he lost to Masato in the final Japan Open!

Epic jump from Fan Zhendong to! Now a top 10 player! My Chinese friend who is very good friends with Fan Zhendong said this is very normal, he thinks Fan Zhendong will be top 5 in no time!

Wow, the top 10 is now more China-ised lol. I always find it weird how Michael Maze just seems to hang in the same place even though he basically doesn't even play anymore :P

Originally Posted by MDanielCRO

Yan An will replace Wang Hao probably, but I think in 4 or 5 years Fan Zhendong will be number 1, because he is only 16 and so good already, just like Ma Long was..!

I also agree that in a few years FZD will be top 5, probably #1 or 2. But he is not really there yet. I do think 9 is close enough to accurate for him, for now. In the end, anything can happen. But I know, right now, on a good day Yan An can beat any of the top 4 and I know, on a very good day, right now, FZD really still cannot.

Xu Chenhao also played (and won) U21 at the Japan Open, and with that he earned enough points to pass Masato Shiono.
About Fan Zhendong, that's indeed a huge jump. He earned 300 ranking points between the WTTC and now, but to my knowledge he only played at the China Open.