(by Steve Hopkins/Photo by ITTF)
With the whole sports world shut down, there is very little activity to report. However, there were a few tournaments early March which have caused some changes in the April Rankings.
The biggest news is that Fan Zhendong has retaken the top spot. Xu Xin has dropped one position to No. 2. Ma Long has kept his position as No. 3. Tomokazu Harimoto and Lin Gaoyuan have swapped positions (Harimoto moved up). Basically, all of the Top 10 list from March are still a part of the Top 10 list this month – but the orders have changed a little.
Liam Pitchford (England) and Wang Chuqin (China) are the biggest movers in the Top 25. Pitchford moved up seven spots to No. 15, and Wang Chuqin moved up 5 spots to No. 12. Hugo Calderano (Brazil) remains the top non-Asian player at No.6. Mattias Falck (Sweden) is the top European player at No. 9. USA’s Kanak Jha is the top North American player at No. 27.
The same ten players remain in the Top 10 list on the Women’s side as well. Chen Meng remains No.1 and Mima Ito has moved up one spot to No. 2. The top non-Asian player is Sofia Polcanova of Austria at no. 14. The top player in this hemisphere is Puerto Rico’s Adriana Diaz at No. 19. USA’s Lily Zhang and Jennifer Wu are No. 27 and No. 32 respectively.
The rankings will be on hold until play resumes and that will be after the health crisis has passed, events can be conducted safely, and after normal travel has resumed.
