04/05/2012       

A squad of five players from which to choose at the recently completed LIEBHERR World Team Championships in Dortmund; whatever option coach Liu Guoliang selected proved successful. China won the Men’s event without losing a single individual match.

The feat is most meritorious but it was no great surprise; on the Men’s World Ranking list published by the International Table Tennis Federation on Thursday 5th April 2012; those five players occupy the top five places.

Ma Long, Zhang Jike and Wang Hao, the trio who played in the final, retain the top three respective places. Xu Xin remains at no.4. The player to make progress is the most experienced of the quintet.

Ma Lin moves from no.7 to no.5.

Making Way
The star to make way is Korea’s Joo Se Hyuk; he falls from no.5 to no.8.

Germany’s Timo Boll retains his no.6 place; Japan’s Jun Mizutani advances one place to no.7.

Completing Top Twelve
Not on duty in Dortmund for China, Wang Liqin remains at no.9 and Chen Qi at no.12, with Germany’s Dimitrij Ovtcharov and Chinese Taipei’s Chuang Chih-Yuan both maintaining their March status.

Dimitrij Ovtcharov is at no.10, Chuang Chih-Yuan is one place below at no.11.

Significant Climb
However, the player to make the most significant progress amongst the higher echelons of the Men’s World Ranking is Austria’s Robert Gardos; he climbs 20 places from no.49 to no.29 and thus enjoys a top 30 position for the second time in his career.

In November 2008 he reached no.28, in April 2009 he stood at no.30.

A Second Austrian Climbs List
A major jump for one Austrian and it is the same for another.

Daniel Habesohn, who beat Joo Se Hyuk at the LIEBHERR World Team Championships and suffered just one defeat, losing to Ma Long, is now at no.70, having previously been listed at no.106.

It is the 25 year old Austrian’s highest ever world ranking; his previous best was no.97; a position he has held on three occasions – September and December 2011 and January 2012.

Europeans Climb
Progress for Austria and there is also progress for European colleagues; Sweden’s Jens Lundqvist climbs from no.64 to no.43, the Slovak Republic’s Thomas Keinath from no.74 to no.51; whilst Serbia’s Aleksandar Karakasevic moves from no.80 to no.56 and Evgueni Chtchetinine from no.79 to no.62.

Similarly, Poland’s Daniel Gorak advances from no.120 to no.89 and Ukraine’s Yaroslav Zhmudenko from no.110 to no.98.

Downward Trend
A higher ranking for Jens Lundqvist but not for his colleagues Pär Gerell and Jörgen Persson; both shared the no.57 spot on the March Rankings; now in April, Pär Gerell is at no.71, Jörgen Persson at no.78.

Asia and Latin America
Also, there is prominent advancement for Asia and Latin America.

Chinese Taipei’s Chen Chien-An climbs from no.100 to no.82, DPR Korea’s Jang Song Man from no.84 to no.55 and his colleague Kim Hyok Bong from no.108 to no.90; whilst for Latin America, the Dominican Republic’s Lin Ju is now listed at no.73. Previously he stood at no.105.

Top Place Retained
Meanwhile, Japan’s Koki Niwa retains his no.1 spot on the Under 21 and Under 18 Boys’ Rankings.

He is followed by Korea’s Seo Hyun Deok and Kim Min Seok in the former with the latter seeing China’s Lin Guoyuan and Simon Gauzy of France next in line.

Status Quo Maintained
It is for Seo Hyun Deok progress, he changes places with Kim Min Seok; whilst for Lin Gaoyuan and Simon Gauzy it the status quo maintained.

However, for Lin Gaoyuan, it is not great progress; absent from the international scene in recent months, on the Men’s list he has fallen from no.37 to no.43.

No Change in Under 15 Rankings
No change at the top of the Under 18 Boys’ World Rankings and it is the same on the Under 15 Boys’ Rankings; China’s Zhou Qihao and Yu Ziyang occupy the top two places with Japan’s Kohei Sambe remaining in third place.