Olympic Men’s and Women’s Singles Ranking Announced for January
Courtesy of ITTF
Continental tournaments to qualify for the Men’s Singles and Women’s Singles events at the forthcoming Rio 2016 Olympic Games are very much the high on the agenda in the first four months of the year.
Eventually by mid-April a total of 40 men and 40 women will have qualified; the next step in the process is the ITTF Olympic Singles Ranking Qualification.
Commencing in January 2016 a monthly Olympic Singles Ranking, considering only eligible athletes for the Olympic Games, is published.
Two Players per National Olympic Committee
The listings follow the policy, adopted throughout the whole qualification process of a maximum of two players per National Olympic Committee being eligible for each of the Men’s Singles and Women’s Singles events.
Continental Participation Required
Players, who have participated in the Continental events but have not qualified, will be eligible via the ITTF Olympic Singles Ranking list issued in early May 2016.
The 22 highest named eligible players will gain qualification; however this number may be increased if the host country place is reallocated or the Team Quota places of, likewise 22 players, is not fully used.
Places Available
Overall the total quota for the Rio 2016 Olympic Games including all four events – Men’s Singles, Women’s Singles, Men’s team, Women’s Team – is 86 84 men and 86 84 women.
The number of qualification places from the ITTF Olympic Singles Ranking may be increased if the host country place is reallocated or if the Team Quota places are not fully utilized.
Additionally in each of the Men’s Singles and Women’s Singles events, one place is allocated for the Tripartite Invitation.
Highest Listed in Each Continent
Once the qualified players list, determined by the ITTF Olympic Singles Ranking, is realized, the process to decide the 16 outfits in each of the Men’s Team and Women’s Team events commences.
A team comprises three players. Each is continent – Africa, Asia, Europe, Latin America, North America, Oceania – is entitled to be represented.
The first step is the highest listed National Olympic Committee from each continent on the May 2016 ITTF Olympic Team Ranking list, with a total of two qualified athletes for the singles events, receives an additional place from the Team Quota. The name of the player to fill the additional place is at the discretion of the relevant National Olympic Committees.
If within a given continent no National Olympic Committee has two qualified athletes for the singles events, then the highest ranked team, based on the May 2016 ITTF Olympic Team Ranking list, with one athlete qualified, will receive two additional places from the Team Quota.
Remaining Places
The host nation is eligible for one place in each of the Men’s Team and Women’s Team events; thus nine further places are available. Potentially this may be ten, if on the May 2016 ITTF Olympic Team Ranking list, Brazil is the highest rated in Latin America.
National Olympic Committees with two players eligible as a result of the singles qualification criteria but who did not gain one of the six continental places, are the next to be considered. They will receive one additional athlete quota place; should the number of teams exceed the available places, the May 2016 ITTF Olympic Team Ranking list will be the determining factor.
Conversely, if the number is less than the places allocated, National Olympic Committees with one player qualified via the singles process, will fill the positions according to the May 2016 ITTF Olympic Team Ranking list. Such teams will receive two players from the quota.
Jurisdiction
If the jurisdiction of a National Olympic Committee covers more than one ITTF affiliated member, as in the case of Great Britain, the ranking of the highest ranked affiliated member is taken into account for qualification purposes.
Download January 2016 Olympic Rankings
Rio 2016 Olympic Games: Olympic Singles Ranking 1/2016
Rio 2016 Olympic Games: Olympic Team Ranking 1/2016
