Well-Known Member
This is another weird post. If we wanted to do rankings and China let all its top players play on tour, would Mima Ito be top 10?
Hugo has been #4 as a continental player benefitting from these extra point provisions and often falls short of his ranking though he has wins here and there. Quadri benefits from them as well, though he sometimes shares that benefit with Assar and while he sometimes outperforms his ranking, he sometimes falls short of it as well. Kanak benefits as well, and has defended his ranking multiple times, while also falling short of it on occasion. Bruna and Lily, same thing, sometimes falls short, but often benefits. But Adriana is clearly better than Lily and Bruna to me, I don't think about it anymore. Adriana will continue to get better as she plays against more good players on a consistent basis.
What makes this discussion all the more weird is that Diaz lost to Kihaara at 13, 10 and 9. The way you describe it, someone would think it was 3-0 with scores at 3,4 and 5.
Kihaara has played in higher level competitions than Diaz almost all her life and was a Japanese Champs runner up a few years ago and has been on the world stage for doubles. Other than maybe Polcanova, none of the top European ladies would be similarly competitive against Kihaara. Yet this is the reason why Diaz is not top 10?
Your opinion is okay. To me, it is obvious that when it comes to players outside Asia, Diaz is at the very top of that group. That is why to me it was obvious that since she plays Asian ladies reasonably well, that she can be top 10 in ranking. Top 10 in ranking doesn't mean that one is top 10 in *strength* all the time. But for me, if Diaz played in Europe, she could be the best lady player in Europe and that is enough. She is also young (21) so there is some development left. She is a very good player and she trains in Asia a lot, though she still has to get more and more competitive exposure which will continue to come with maturity and experience. Over time, her career trajectory will look more and more like Quadri, time permitting (with women, you never know).
i forgot Hugo, how could I ? yes Hugo deserves a good ranking, he's very consistent. he is RC 14
anyway, personally i think RatingsCentral gives a more accurate picture of the real strength of a given player than ITTF. its pure maths. The main complaint RC doesn't take into account the logic of overweighting the more important competitions and a win/loss against a given a player in a simple WTT open gets same effect than a win/loss against the same player at WTTC or Olympics.
and I agree also with u, Mima Ito would struggle to be top10, with all Chinese, but RC still gives her the 8th rank.
---
seriously if you are into sportsbetting, i strongly advise you to look at RC and not ITTF rankings, and i think that says it all.