says
So many upsets lately
says
So many upsets lately
[…] we cannot organize event that every player meets every other to see who is the best.
Ma Long is ranked No.1 once again in Nov Issue of ITTF World Rankings. Being No.1 for 63 months in total and 33 months in a row - the record seems unbreakable by anyone but Ma Long himself.
The current World Ranking points consists two parts, rating points which reflects the opponents against whom a player have played and bonus points/penalty points which indicates the positions that a player has reached in tournaments within a year. For example, Ma Long's current 3323 ranking points are made of 3036 rating points, 312 bonus points for tournaments he attended within a year and 25 penalty points for China Open withdrawal. Depending on the difference in rating points between him and his opponents, Ma Long gained very little even none rating points winning over most players and lost huge rating points upon defeat. For example, in 2017 World Cup, Ma Long gained 2 rating points after beating Omar Assar, Koki Niwa and Simon Gauzy, respectively while lost 32 rating points after losing to Timo Boll. You can tell how difficult it is for Ma Long to keep such high rating points (3036), even higher than the total points of the current No.3 Dimitrij Ovtcharov (3011 ranking points =2676 rating points + 335 bonus points).
However, Ma Long will no longer be ranked No.1 next Jan when a new ITTF ranking system will be in effect. The new ranking system adds up the best 8 results within a year (World Championships events within 2 years). Ma Long will have only 7 valid results next Jan and very likely drop out of top 5 in ITTF World Rankings (he has been within top 5 since Dec 2007).