ITTF Shakes up the Rankings

by Steve Hopkins, Bowmar Sports

The November ranking list was released by ITTF on November 1, with a new format that has caused some surprises. The most major change to the ranking system is that only those who have competed in the last four months appear in the list.  Beginning in January, an updated ranking system will be implemented that will apply additional weight to the round reached in a tournament (which is a shift away from the current system where rankings are based primarily on individual results against other players).

The TOP TWO in the November rankings are unchanged, but under the new rules, several top players including Xu Xin (formerly No. 3) and Zhang Jike (formerly No. 6) have fallen out of the rankings completely.  Spots 3-6 are now occupied by two Germans (Dima Ovtcharov and Timo Boll) and two Japanese (Koki Niwa and Jun Mizutani).

In this sport, like most sports, the best players will generally rise to the top of the rankings.  Only time will tell, but with rankings affecting the seeding in events and often dictating the number of tough matches one must play in order to reach the Finals, this new system could really shake things up.

View article outlining the 2018 New World Ranking Scheme here:

The Top 25 Ranking List (Men) as of November 1, 2017 is shown below.
Men’s World Rankings  (1 Nov 2017)
01)  Ma Long
02)  Fan Zhendong
03)  Dimitrij Ovtcharov
04)  Timo Boll
05)  Koki Niwa
06)  Jun Mizutani
07)  Lin Gaoyuan
08)  Simon Gauzy
09)  Kenta Matsudaira
10)  Fang Bo
11)  Chuang Chih Yuan
12)  Wong Chun Ting
13)  Lee Sangsu
14)  Yan An
15)  Vladimir Samsonov
16)  Tomokazu Harimoto
17)  Marcos Freitas
18)  Hugu Calderano
19)  Masaki Yoshida
20)  OMar Assar
21)  Ruwen Filus
21)  Yuya Oshima
23)  Alexander Shibaev
24)  Mattias Karlsson
25)  Maharu Yoshimura