Ma Long is the best player in the world

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oh no !! I think Zhang Jike is the best ... no no I changed my mind ... Fan Zhendong .. its Fan Zhendong ... wait ... it could be Xu Xin ... no I think its Harimoto ... lets make them all Number 1 .. go to hell ITTF .. why can't you make all the players we love number one .. screw your system and what you are trying to do !!
 
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Why is the ITTF system getting it wrong over and over? Ma Long is the best. We all know that.
The ITTF system is not "getting it wrong". The system is a measurement. Like all measurements, it calculates something based on the input it is given. Plus, it measures in one unit, not in some other. Just like, calculating weight and calculating mass are two measures which apply to different things.

If you want the ITTF system to measure who is "the best", then you'll have to give them the criteria upon which the measurement has to be made. Do you want "the best of all time", or do you want "the best taking into account all matches played in the past week"? The current system uses results over a twelve month period (plus from specific majors in the last two years) to calculate their achievements. It produces a ranking, which only approximates who is most likely to win in a given match up. It does not attempt to calculate who is "the best".
 
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Ma Long's 8 best results of the last year:

Year/MonthPlayerAssocTournamentTotal PointsFinal Pos.
Display #​
5 10 15 20 25 30 50 100
Total: 7​

2017-05MA LongCHN2017 - World Table Tennis Championships, Dusseldorf (GER)3000Winner
2018-05MA LongCHN2018 - World Tour, China Open, Shenzhen (CHN)2250Winner
2018-03MA LongCHN2018 - World Tour, German Open, Bremen (GER)2250Winner
2017-10MA LongCHN2017 - Men's World Cup, Liege (BEL)20403rd Place
2018-04MA LongCHN2018 - World Team Table Tennis Championships, Halmstad (SWE)1500Team
2018-06MA LongCHN2018 - World Tour, Japan Open, Kitakyushu (JPN)1260QF
2018-02MA LongCHN2018 - Team World Cup, London (ENG)1200Team
Please notice: of the top 10 players, Ma Long is the only player who does not have 8 results for his top 8 results in the past 12 months. Ma Long only has 7.

BTW: I believe FZD had 12 or 13 results from which to choose his top 8 results. That gives him a big advantage to drop 4 or 5 of his results that were not as stellar.

It is also worth noting that Ma Long's bottom 3 results: 1500, 1260 and 1200....all three of those are quite a bit lower than FZD's bottom 3 results: 1876, 1800 and 1800. Where he was able to drop weaker results like the 1200 ML got from the Team World Cup that Ma Long has listed because he has nothing else to replace it.

So, the real question is: why does Ma Long not even have 8 results in the past year. Why doesn't Ma Long have 12 or 13 results so he can drop the weaker point scores?

Think about it.
 
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Even in direct combat champion decider sports like boxing, the champion has to defend his title, otherwise it would be claimed vacant and the pretenders will fight for it.
To pretend to be the best you have to prove it on regular bases, "best" is neither a profession, nor a lifetime right.
 
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"the real question is: why does Ma Long not even have 8 results in the past year. Why doesn't Ma Long have 12 or 13 results so he can drop the weaker point scores?" - Carl

Maybe marriage and a baby.

Ok, so currently he is fighting for the "best husband&father title" rather than "best TT player".
And the ranking system matched this accordingly.
So where is the problem?
 
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Ok, so currently he is fighting for the "best husband&father title" rather than "best TT player".
And the ranking system matched this accordingly.
So where is the problem?

I have no problem with Ma Long being 7th in the current system, but if there was a WTTC, say in a month time. Who would you bet your 1000$ on? Wouldn't you go with good old Ma anyway ...
 
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New system doesn't favour anyone. It's bad for CNT because the top players have to play more (more chance of injury) and because top players have to play more the 'second tier' CNT players have less chance to come out and perform.

It's bad for other players because despite the fact they'll be seeded high in tournaments it increases their chance of meeting a top Chinese player in the early rounds.
 
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