(by Steve Hopkins, photo WTT)
Wang Chuqin remains firmly in the top spot, but 19 others in the Top 25 of shifted positions in a very active update to the World Rankings. Within the Top 5, Hugo Calderano has moved up one spot to No. 2. He is now 175 points ahead of Lin Shidong who slides to No. 3. Tomokazu Harimoto and Truls Moregard have also swapped positions, with Harimoto now at 4 and Moregard at No. 5.
Felix Lebrun holds his position at No. 6, but Matsushima, Lin Yun-Ju, and Xiang Peng have all moved up (now at 7, 8, and 9 respectively). Liang Jingkun falls three spots to No. 10. Benedikt Duda is up 3 positions to No. 11, once again Germany’s highest ranked player. Dan Qiu is 12, and Woojin, Alexis Lebrun, Jorgic, Gauzy, Lind, Jaehyun, Togami, and Qihao round out the top 20. Kanak Jha is the USA’s top player at No. 23 – he is also the top player from North America, the second highest player from this Hemisphere, and the 10th highest non-Asian player in the Rankings.
There is seldom as much movement in the Women’s rankings as the Men. Sun, Manyu, and Xingtong have held on to the top three positions (in the same order). Zhu Yuling of Macao is up one spot to No. 4. Kuai Man, Harimoto, Yidi, Chen Yi, Ito, and Hayata round out the Top 10. The top European player is Sabine Winter. At No. 15, Puerto Rico’s Adriana Diaz is the top player from our Hemisphere. Amy Wang is now the USA’s top ranked player at No. 37 and she is trailed by Lily Zhang at No. 42.
The next big event on the tour is the Singapore Smash in about 10 days. Lots of points will be at stake in Singapore, so expect to see some more changes to the Rankings in few weeks.
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