While announcing the latest edition of the World Rankings, the ITTF announced on its website that the first Grand Slam of 2022 is scheduled to be held in Singapore's Sports City from March 7 to 20. Grand Slam events are different from the general challenge, singles champions have a prize money of 100,000 US dollars and 2,000 points, the points level is equivalent to the Olympic Games, for the world ranking serious decline and then set sail again to impact the Paris Olympic Games quota veterans Xu Xin and Liu Shiwen, can be described as a good opportunity to grab points, through the Macau Championships, the two are still in good shape in the singles event, is expected to qualify, continue to soar to improve the world rankings.
Singapore Grand Slam is the highest standard table tennis event launched by the International Table Tennis Federation in 2022, March 7-9 will be the qualification tournament of the Grand Slam, March 11-20 for a 10-day main event, a total of 64 seats for men's and women's singles, 24 seats for men's and women's doubles and 16 seats in mixed doubles, singles champions with prize money of $100,000, and 2,000 points, once won, it will greatly enhance the individual's world rankings and occupy a good position in the draw of the World Championships and olympic games.
In view of the fact that the Grand Slam tournament will gather all the top masters to participate in the competition, in order to ensure the smooth victory of the national table tennis, the national table tennis will definitely send the top ranking of the main players to participate in the competition, to avoid premature encounter with various fierce opponents, then Sun Yingsha, Chen Meng, Wang Manyu, Fan Zhendong, Ma Long, Xu Xin, Liu Shiwen, Liang Jingkun and other main lineups If there is no accident, it will definitely appear on the Grand Slam arena in Singapore, for Xu Xin and Liu Shiwen, who have recently declined in the world ranking, they want to take the lead in the future competition. You need to raise the world ranking first.
Xu Xin has always occupied the No. 3 position in the world ranking in 2021, and he has won medals in the World Championships and world cup men's singles competitions, but has never been on the highest podium, which also indicates that the straight board players have little hope and great difficulty in winning the world men's singles championship again. Xu Xin missed the tokyo Olympic men's singles qualification, and then took the initiative to withdraw from the Houston World Table Tennis Championships, resulting in a decline in the men's singles world rankings, down 6 places in a row to rank 9th, in the national table tennis is only ranked 4th, the situation is "before there are tigers, after there is a pursuit of soldiers" embarrassment, Wang Chuqin, Lin Gaoyuan also has the possibility of surpassing Xu Xin and squeezing him out of the top 10.
Liu Shiwen is currently ranked 17th in the world, although she performed bravely in the Macau Tournament, but there are no points in the account, the world ranking has dropped by 10 places from the 7th place half a year ago, and if she wants to continue to get more international competition opportunities in the Paris Olympic cycle, the world ranking needs to stop falling and bullish, and cannot blindly slide down. At present, Sun Yingsha, Chen Meng, Wang Manyu, Wang Yidi, Chen Xingtong and Zhu Yuling are all higher than Liu Shiwen in the world rankings, and the Singapore Grand Slam Tournament is not only a good opportunity for the top 10 national table tennis main players to consolidate the points ranking, but also a good opportunity for Liu Shiwen and Chen Xing, who are ranked behind, to catch up with their fierce rivals and move closer to the 10, provided that good results are taken out, and at least reaching the women's singles semifinals may significantly improve the rankings.
In addition, Liu Shiwen / Xu Xin is also very competitive in the mixed doubles event, the current world ranking of mixed doubles No. 1 is still the combination of retired Mizutani Hayabusa and Ito Mimachi, Xu Xin / Liu Shiwen has the strength to win the championship, is expected to jump from the world no. 3 to the top of the list, but teammate Xinke World Table Tennis Champion Sun Yingsha / Wang Chuqin also has the ability to challenge the veteran, hoping to regain the throne of the mixed doubles world No. 1 after the Singapore Grand Slam.