On May 3, the World Table Tennis Federation officially announced the latest edition of the World Rankings after the change in ranking rules. Since the initial points before 2020 were all cleared, the world rankings of many veterans fell seriously. Among them, Xu Xin and Liu Shiwen's world rankings all fell out of the top 80. The national table tennis has also established a new pattern, and the three main players of the men's team, Fan Zhendong, Ma Long and Liang Jingkun, have surfaced, and the three have won the top three in this edition of the world rankings.
Previously, in order to ensure that the new rules can be better connected with the old rules, the Table Tennis Federation deliberately retained the initial points in the world ranking points, and the base number was 80% of the 2020 world ranking points. Over time, the proportion of initial integrals became smaller and smaller, becoming the later 20%. However, this rule is clearly not good for athletes who perform better in 2021 and 2022, so after careful consideration, the Table Tennis Federation finally decided to completely delete the initial points in the new regulations.
As a result, veterans like Xu Xin and Liu Shiwen, whose main good results appeared before 2020, are in a disadvantageous position in the new regulations. Xu Xin's world ranking dropped directly from 8th to 81st, Liu Shiwen's ranking dropped directly from 17th to 85th, and all of the Xinwen simulcast combinations fell out of the world's top 80.
If you want to continue to maintain a high world ranking under this ranking rule, you must play a good record from now on, and you can't eat the old money of the past. But for Xu Xin and Liu Shiwen, in their current state, I am afraid it is difficult to do too much in the competition, and the results of the Singapore Grand Slam are a proof. Neither of the veterans has qualified for the Asian Games today, which is a true portrayal of their current situation in the team.
Under the new rules, Fan Zhendong still maintains an absolute advantage, and he and Ma Long and Liang Jingkun have won the top three in the men's singles world. This also allows the three main players of the national table tennis men's team to surface, Fan Zhendong and Ma Long needless to say, Liang Jingkun has won the men's singles third place in the World Table Tennis Championships and the Singapore Grand Slam consecutively, as if he is already the third pole of men's table tennis besides Fan Zhendong and Ma Long. Liang Jingkun is optimistic about the qualification for the Paris Olympic Games, and he also fully has this strength.
National table tennis is now undergoing a new and old replacement, Xu Xin, Liu Shiwen and other veterans will be very strong young players, but this also makes their persistence seem more valuable. It is precisely because of these veterans that national table tennis can maintain a strong force, and I hope that Xu Xin and Liu Shiwen can maintain a good physical condition and have a good play in future competitions.