says Waldner Masterclass out now! 🏓
says Waldner Masterclass out now! 🏓
Well-Known Member
Administrator
Oct 2010
4,144
6,577
12,998
Yesterday the ITTF released the latest World rankings! The rankings were published by the International Table Tennis Federation on Thursday 1st March 2012.

Similar to the February 2012 ITTF World Rankings, Ma Long and Ding Ning remain number one in the World in their respective Men's and Women's categories. This is the eighteenth time Ma Long has been ranked at World number 1 with Ding Ning claiming the number one spot for a sixth time.

Xu Xin and Joo Se Hyuk achieve career high rankings! Xu Xin now World ranked at number 4 with Joo Se Hyuk ranked at number 5. This has pushed European number 1 Timo Boll to position 6.

xujoomarchrank2012.jpg

Xu Xin left, Joo Se Hyuk right. Photo by: Roscher

Mens World Rankings

01 (<<) Ma Long
02 (<<) Zhang Jike
03 (<<) Wang Hao
04 (05) Xu Xin
05 (06) Joo Se Hyuk
06 (04) Timo Boll
07 (<<) Ma Lin
08 (09) Jun Mizutani
09 (08) Wang Liqin
10 (<<) Dimitrij Ovtcharov
11 (<<) CHuang Chih-Yuan
12 (<<) Chen Qi
13 (<<) Vladimir Samsonov
14 (15) Ryu Seung Min
15 (14) Oh Sang Eun
16 (17) Hao Shuai
17 (16) Seiya Kishikawa
18 (19) Patrick Baum
19 (25) Lee Jung Woo
20 (23) Koki Niwa
21 (18) Gao Ning
22 (43) Jiang Tianyi
22 (21) Michael Maze
24 (20) Adrien Mattenet
25 (22) Bastian Steger
26 (24) Adrian Crisan
27 (30) Kim Min Seok
28 (26) Bojan Tokic
29 (28) Seo Hyun Deok
29 (39) LEung Chu Yan
31 (48) ZHAN Jian ^^
32 (33) TANG Peng

Full list of Men's World Rankings here

Japanese wizkid Koki Niwa has achieved a career high ranking and is forever climbing. His current ranking stands at 20! Alexander Shibaev has broken the 50 barrier. His latest ranking is now at 42.

Teenage sensations Simon Gauzy and Patrick Franziska have noticeably put an impact into the rankings. France's Simon Gauzy moved up 13 places from 77 to 64. Germany's Patrick Franziska has now broken the top 100 barrier with an incredible 32 place jump. Patrick is now ranked at 98.

Kasumi Ishikawa has moved up one position and overtaken China's Yue. Ding Ning remains at number 1 followed by by Liu Shiwen, Guo Yan, Li Xiaoxia and Feng Tianwei completing the top 5.

ishikawa_31_08_07_Large.jpg

Japan's Kasumi Ishikawa, Photo by: ITTF Asia Office

Womens World Rankings

1 (<<) Ding Ning
2 (<<) Liu Shiwen
3 (<<) Guo Yan
4 (<<) Li Xiaoxia
5 (<<) Feng Tianwei
6 (07) Kasumi Ishikawa
7 (06) Guo Yue
8 (<<) Wang Yuegu
9 (10) Wu Yang
10 (12) Tie Yana

Full list of women's World Rankings here

Ai Fukuhara has dropped down in the rankings and is now out of the top 10. Tie Yana has filled her place.

aimarchrank2012.jpg


What do you all think of the new world rankings? Any surprises? What do you think of the rankings this period around.

The top 10 Men's/Women's World rankings are now displayed on our forum and home page for quick access of our player profiles and World rankings!

Enjoy!

worldrankingssidebar.jpg
 
says Spin and more spin.
says Spin and more spin.
Well-Known Member
Super Moderator
Dec 2010
16,146
17,686
54,748
Read 11 reviews
Looks like some interesting changes. It looks decently accurate. When Xu Xin overcomes Wang Hao it will complete the changing of the guard and it won't be long before the rankings read:

1) Ma Long
2) Zhang Jike
3) Xu Xin
4) Wang Hao

Ma Long and Zhang Jike are still clearly the two best players in the men's division. How many tournaments has it been where they have faced off in the finals in the last six months? Xu Xin has outrageous talent and I think he has an amazing forehand. Not sure what is holding him back but in spite of the talent he has, in game skills he is a notch below those two guys and he might still be a notch below Wang Hao even though, at this point, he has more speed and power and better footwork than Wang Hao.

Never the less, Xu Xin is a treat to watch because of how athletic he is. It almost looks like watching a dance because he is so graceful.

As far as the women are concerned, it is nice to see Kasumi continue to climb in the ranks. I like her game and I don't mind that she is one of the few women in the game at that high a level who is easy on the eyes. If the ranking went by looks, she would be #1 on my list as far as the top women are concerned. But, in spite of thinking she is pretty cute, I do like the way she plays.
 

Dan

says editing a big TTD Team episode... stay tuned 👀

Dan

says editing a big TTD Team episode... stay tuned 👀
Well-Known Member
Administrator
Aug 2010
7,079
4,755
16,880
Read 72 reviews
That's great for Joo :D If he keeps a high level for longer, maybe eventually he can take over Wang Hao as well. I think the 3 youngsters will hold the top-3 soon for a long time.

I totally agree with you both Carl and WiWa. This Chinese trio, ma, xu and jike will dominate for some time. They will be very hard to beat. Lets hope Joo can push into the top 4 to disturb the Chinese dominance. I would also like to see the young French and Germans work their way up there. Maybe Ovtcharov and Mizutani have more potiential in them?

Sent from my Samsung Galaxy S2 using tapatalk
 
This user has no status.
This user has no status.
Well-Known Member
May 2011
1,892
115
2,353
Another interesting point is if Xu will be able to completely catch up to the 2. At this moment he can cause them trouble, but he never beats them. Given that he is 1-2 years younger than them, it is possible that he improves faster and eventually joins the fight for all the big titles.
 

Dan

says editing a big TTD Team episode... stay tuned 👀

Dan

says editing a big TTD Team episode... stay tuned 👀
Well-Known Member
Administrator
Aug 2010
7,079
4,755
16,880
Read 72 reviews
Another interesting point is if Xu will be able to completely catch up to the 2. At this moment he can cause them trouble, but he never beats them. Given that he is 1-2 years younger than them, it is possible that he improves faster and eventually joins the fight for all the big titles.

Good point. I just feel Ma Long's and Zhang Jikes backhand compartment is just to strong for the style of Xu. For Xu to consistantly maintain a high level of performance for the big titles will be difficult. His backhand is tremendous but against ZJ and ML it doesnt have much match.

Sent from my Samsung Galaxy S2 using tapatalk
 
This user has no status.
This user has no status.
Well-Known Member
May 2011
1,892
115
2,353
Good point. I just feel Ma Long's and Zhang Jikes backhand compartment is just to strong for the style of Xu. For Xu to consistantly maintain a high level of performance for the big titles will be difficult. His backhand is tremendous but against ZJ and ML it doesnt have much match.

Sent from my Samsung Galaxy S2 using tapatalk

True. He has great speed, power and flexibility though, everything that is required for making penhold style succesful. If he gets a stronger serve it will be very hard to take points off him on that, since penhold is an advantage in serving. But it probably needs some extra work indeed.
 

Dan

says editing a big TTD Team episode... stay tuned 👀

Dan

says editing a big TTD Team episode... stay tuned 👀
Well-Known Member
Administrator
Aug 2010
7,079
4,755
16,880
Read 72 reviews
Also, I love this feature where the top ten are listed with their photo on the home page. Too bad the photos cannot be a tiny bit larger, but it is a great feature.

Thanks for feedback Carl. Glad you like it :). We had to keep those images at that size to keep space in the sidebar. Otherwise template didnt fit. Anyhow glad you like it. I just need to write up 10 women player profiles to go with it now :)

Sent from my Samsung Galaxy S2 using tapatalk
 
Top