(by Steve Hopkins, photo WTT)
The WTT Champions Series event in Chongqing finished on Sunday, and most who watched assumed the Final between Wang Chuqin and Lin Shidong would not only determine the tournament champion, but also World No. 1. In fact, with the two only separated in the rankings by 100 points, the announcers on the broadcast referenced a new Number 1, as did many news outlets.
When Tuesday’s World Rankings were released, many were surprised to see Lin Shidong keeping the coveted No 1 spot. The World Ranking System is complex – a system determines cumulative points from multiple tournaments, not just one brilliant performance. Further, those cumulative points are generally active only for 52 weeks, with some exceptions and with the intent that players are given opportunity to repeat performances and the same tournament a year later. This means that when schedules differ, or there are important tournaments in one year but not the next, that point totals can change up or down in any given week.
Last week, Lin Shidong had 8025 points heading to Chongqing and Wang Chuqin has 7,925. Both made the Final, which awarded a set number of points (the same for both), and Chuqin won which gave him 300 additional points. Was that enough to overcome a 100 point deficit? No – because both players also had points expire and because Wang Chuqin was so dominant at the start of 2024, he had accumulated more “old” points, and had more points fall off of his total than Lin Shidong. The new points total is 8325 for Lin Shidong, and 6925 for Wang Chuqin. They remain World No. 1 and World No. 2.
Tomokazu Harimoto moves up a spot this week, now No. 3 ahead of Liang Jingkun who has dropped to No. 4. Calderano, Felix Lebrun, Moregard, Franziska, Alexis Lebrun, and Lin Gaoyuan complete the rest of the Top 10. USA’s Kanak Jha dropped one spot to No. 27.
On the Women’s Side, Sun Yingsha has accumulated an amazing lead – with 11,300 ranking points. Second is Wang Manyu with 7200, and Wang Yidi is in third with 4375. The Top 10 is unchanged this week despite the recent important tournaments – with Xingtong, Hayata, Harimoto, Man, Odo, Ito, and Yubin. Shin Yubin at No. 10 is the only player in that list not from the dominant powers of China or Japan. Also of interest to American fans – Lily hang is up one spot to No. 24, and Adriana Diaz of Puerto Rico is stable at No. 16.
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