The World Championships (both team and individual) is unique as the only event where points last twice as long as any other events, they are valid until the next edition of that type of WTTC. This means points earned in Halmstad will stay with the players until 2020 when the next team championship is held in Busan, Korea.
How it works
Each of the three divisions differs in strength, and this is reflected in the points earned per win. The points are cumulative, meaning they stack up based on the total wins. Qualifying to the main draw is also a factor with decreased points on offer for matches not in the running for a division title.
- Championship Division Main Draw and Group Stage – 250 points
- Championship Division Position Matches – 180 points
- 2nd Division Main Draw and Group Stage – 125 points
- 2nd Division Position Matches – 90 points
- 3rd Division Main Draw and Group Stage – 85 points
- 3rd Division Position Matches – 70 points
More wins mean more points. However, if your points total from the previous team championships is higher than the total earned in Halmstad then you make a net loss and may see a drop in ranking. This is also affected by the movement of players around you, so even if you see a small increase in points the players beneath you may have amassed a huge total in Halmstad and shot a long way ahead, effectively slowing your rise.
HARIMOTO Tomokazu (JPN) may not have won the most matches but he moved from 13 to 10, this can be attributed as much to the Asian Cup as to the World Championships, both events entered his top 8 results.
TSUBOI Gustavo (BRA) flew up the list from 54 to 35 because he was in 2nd Division in 2016, so his 5 wins this year are each worth twice as much as his wins in 2016, of which he had only 2. TSUBOI also reached the quarterfinal of the Slovenia Open held in April.
FENG Tianwei (SGP) won 7 matches in Halmstad, not a bad effort but it pales in comparison to her 11 wins in Kuala Lumpur which earned her 1000 points more than Halmstad. This is the reason for her drop from 4 to 9 in the rankings.
DING Ning (CHN) fell from 11 to 16 because her points at the 2017 Asian Cup expired, and she did not compete in the 2018 Asian Cup, she won the same number of matches in Halmstad as two years ago in Kuala Lumpur. Currently, DING has 6 events in her top 8, if she had 8 or more then the damage would not be so significant from points expiring.
ZHANG Jike (CHN) did not compete this year, so when his points expired from 2016 WTTC he went from 4 events to 3 in his top 8. His rank dropped to 168 from 77. ZHANG Jike will return to the World Tour later this month for the Hong Kong Open.
This edition of the ranking list also takes into account results from the Asian Cup, Slovenia Open, Croatia Open and Commonwealth Games, as well as several junior events (Under 21, Juniors, and Cadets have separate ranking lists). For the full list of events in the month of April visit the ITTF events calendar.