Ma Lin, man in the number spot on the ITTF Men's Worlds Rankings f |
3/1/2007
China’s Ma Lin is the new World number one ranked player.
The World Ranking lists published by the International Table Tennis Federation on Thursday 1st March 2007 see Wang Liqin deposed at the top of the men’s list and replaced by his colleague.
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Wang Liqin, who has enjoyed an uninterrupted top spot since 1st January 2005, drops to number two.
Third Time
It is the third time that Ma Lin has ascended to the number one spot. The first occasion was in 2002 when his name appeared at the top of the list in both October and November of that year; the second occasion came in July 2003 when he was ranked number one and the third time was his longest stay at the top.
He was ranked number one from October 2003 to May 2004.
Performances in Qatar and Kuwait
The elevation to the highest position is a result of his performances at the Liebherr Qatar Open and the Salwa Cup Kuwait Open.
In Qatar he won the Men’s Singles beating Wang Liqin in the final whilst in Kuwait he finished in runners up spot to Chinese national team colleague Ma Long.
Ma Long
In Kuwait, eighteen year old Ma Long defeated Wang Liqin at the penultimate stage of the Men’s Singles event and one week earlier he had overcome Vladimir Samsonov of Belarus in the third round at the Liebherr Qatar Open in Doha.
The result is that Ma Long moves from no.16 to no.8.
ITTF Pro Tour Successes
Success on the ITTF Pro Tour and it is the players who enjoyed good performances at the Liebherr Qatar Open and the Salwa Cup Kuwait Open who make the most notable strides in the newly published listings.
In the Men’s Rankings, Korea’s Lee Jung Woo, who beat Austria’s Werner Schlager in Qatar, moves from no. 27 to no.22; whilst Gao Ning of Singapore occupies his highest ever ranked position. The winner of the Men’s Singles crown at the Indian Open he advances from no. 31 to no. 27.
Similar
Similarly, there is progress for Trinko Keen of the Netherlands.
The victor over Korea’s Ryu Seung Min, the reigning Olympic champion, at the Liebherr Qatar Open he moves from no. 38 to n. 34, whilst Croatia’s Tan Ruiwu, who defeated the Korean one week later in Kuwait and then ousted Chinese Taipei’s Chuan Chih-Yuan progresses, from no. 65 to no. 41.
Less Drama
In the Women’s Rankings the changes are not so dramatic.
Li Xiaoxia, the winner of the Women’s Singles crown in Qatar changes place with Singapore’s Li Jia Wei. Li Xiaoxia now appears at no. 5 thus creating a situation where the top five women on the World Rankings are all from China.
Zhang Yining retains her number one spot, a position she has held since 1st January 2003, with Wang Nan remaining at no. 2 followed by Guo Yan and Guo Yue respectively.
Most Notable Progress
The most notable progress in the top fifty of the Women’s World Rankings is made by Korea’s Park Mi Young and by the Japanese duo of Ai Fukuhara and Haruna Fukuoka.
Ai Fukuhara who beat Guo Yue at the Liebherr Qatar Open moves from no. 15 to no. 11; Haruna Fukuoka who overcame Lin Ling, the reigning Asian Women’s champion, in Qatar progresses nine places to no. 24, whilst Park Mi Young climbs four rungs up the ladder. She ended the hopes of America’s Wang Chen in Kuwait now appears at no. 16. Previously she was ranked no. 20.
In the Under 21 and Under 18 listings the names at the top remain the same.
China’s Ma Long is ranked no. 1 on the Under 21 Men’s Rankings followed by Korea’s Cho Eon Rae and Hong Kong’s Jiang Tianyi, whilst in the Under 21 Women’s list China’s Guo Yue and Li Xiaoxia occupy the top two places with Japan’s Ai Fukuhara third.
The Under 18 Boys’ Ranking sees Japan’s Jun Mizutani in first place with Chinese Taipe’s Chiang Hung-Chieh second and China’ Xu Ke third. Meanwhile in the Under 18 Girls’ Ranking it is three Chinese players who occupy top place. Ding Ning is at no. 1 with Liu Shiwen ranked no. 2 and Feng Yalan at no. 3.
Leading Places
Men:
1. (2) Ma Lin (CHN) 2. (1) Wang Liqin (CHN) 3. (3) Wang Hao (CHN) 4. (4) Timo Boll (GER) 5. (6) Oh Sang Eun (KOR) 6 (5) Vladimir Samsonov (BLR) 7. (7) Chen Qi (CHN) 8. (16) Ma Long (CHN) 9. (9) Ryu Seung Min (KOR) 10. (8) Hao Shuai (CHN) 11. (10) Werner Schlager (AUT) 12. (11) Li Ching (HKG)
Women:
1. (1) Zhang Yining (CHN) 2. (2) Wang Nan (CHN) 3. (3) Guo Yan (CHN) 4. (4) Guo Yue (CHN) 5. (6) Li Xiaoxia (CHN) 6. (5) Li Jia Wei (SIN) 7. (7) Tie Yana (HKG) 8. (8) Wang Yue Gu (SIN) 9. (11) Niu Jianfeng (CHN) 10. (12) Kim Kyung Ah (KOR) 11. (15) Ai Fukuhara (JPN) 12. Gao Jun (USA) (9)
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