(by Steve Hopkins)

Many recent ranking lists have changed very little – often with only one or two changes in the top 10.  The May list is a drastic diversion, with only two of the top 20 spots unchanged.

At the top, Fan Zhendong remains the World No. 1, and his 830 point advantage over second place means he holds a strong position.  Lin Gaoyuan has moved up a spot to take the second position away from Xu Xin.  Xu has fallen one position.  Japan’s Tomokazu Harimoto continues to hold the fourth position.

Timo Boll has been bumped from No. 5 down to No. 7, because of the great play of Ma Long (moving up to No. 5 from No. 11) and Liang Jinkun (moving up to No. 6 from No. 9).  Hugo Calderano drops one spot to No. 8, and the Top Ten is rounded out with a pair of Korean players, Woojin Jang and Sansu Lee.

Among those making a positive move, Mattias Falck, fresh off a runner up finish at the World Championships, moves up to No. 11 from No 16.  Japan’s Masataka Morizono moved up 12 spaces to No. 33.  And Japan’s Kazuhiro Yoshimura moved up 14 places to No. 36.

USA’s top player, Kanak Jha is at No. 40.  The next highest America player is Nikhil Kumar at No. 211.  Marko Medjugorac is Canada’s top player at No. 220.    Brian Afanador is Puerto Rico’s top player at No. 117.

Ding Ning remains on the top in the Women’s World Rankings.  The women have also shuffled positions in the Top 10 with Zhu Yuling moving from No. 5 up to No. 2 pushing everyone else down one spot.  Korea’s Hyowon Suh appears in the Top 10 for the first time – debuting at No. 10.

Canada’s Mo Zhang holds her position at No. 25 and Adriana Diaz holds her position at No. 31.  USA’s Jennifer Wu has moved up one position to No. 43. Lily Zhang has fallen a few positions to No. 81.