(By Steve Hopkins/Photo by ITTF)
ITTF Rankings – The First Shifts of 2018

With the new World Ranking system in full effect, here’s a quick view of the Men’s Division at the start of the New Year.

The new system encourages activity as frequency of play (and inactivity) now has a greater effect. The November Press Release by ITTF noted that there would be more frequent shifts at the top of the rankings – and the January rankings have shown that to be the case.

Ovtcharov starts 2018 in first with Fan Zhendong and Timo Boll in second and third. But the real story here is that nine of the top ten players shifted from previous positions in the ITTF rankings. Fan Zhendong held his spot at No.2. Ovtcharov jumped from No.3 to No.1 and, Boll jumped from No.5 to No.3. Ma Long tumbled from first all the way down to No.7.

One big shift of importance to the US is the jump of Kanak Jha from No.200 to No.90. No other Men in North America are currently in the top 200.

Other notable shifts include Jun Mizutani (Japan) falling out of the top 10 (from No.7 to No.13), Egypt’s Omar Assar’s highest ranking of No.16, Fang Bo falling outside of the top 20 (now No.21), and two Indians (Soumyajit Ghoush and Harmeet Desai) jumping up to 58 and 60.

One ITTF goal was for these more frequent shifts to create excitement and interest. The January rankings have 2018 off to an interesting start — and February is right around the corner. Here’s to an exciting and interesting 2018.

1. Dimitrij Ovtcharov (GERMANY) (Up from 3)
2. Fan Zhendong (CHINA) (Remains at 2)
3. Timo Boll (GERMANY) (Up from 5)
4. Lin Gaoyuan (CHINA) (Up from 6)
5. Xu Xin (CHINA) (Down from 4)
6. Koki Niwa (JAPAN) (Up from 8)
7. Ma Long (CHINA) (Down from 1)
8. Wong Chun Ting (TAIWAN) (Up from 14)
9. Simon Gauzy (FRANCE) (Up from 11)
10. Kenta Matsudaira (JAPAN) (Up from 15)

Full ITTF January Rankings here: http://results.ittf.link/index.php?option=com_fabrik&view=list&listid=69&Itemid=206