After the ITTF announced the world rankings for week 18 this year, the world rankings of many players have changed a lot.
For example, the ranking of Chinese male table tennis player, Olympic champion and veteran Xu Xin dropped from the original 8th to 81st, down 73 places. Liu Shiwen, a veteran of the Chinese women's table tennis team and also an Olympic champion, dropped from 17th to 85th, down 68 places. Zhu Yuling, the former women's table tennis world number one, did not even enter the ranking list. It also ranked 18th in week 17. She's not retiring yet.
Such a big change in ranking has a great impact on the players.
Why has the ranking of players changed so much. Many fans don't quite understand. Xiang Chu wanted to talk to everyone about this.
First of all, this is the new ranking rules formulated by the International Table Tennis Federation. Previously, in order to reduce the impact of the epidemic on the event, the "Initial Points" were introduced in 2020. This is nothing more than a transitional measure. According to this rule, a fixed number of points is added to the sum of the highest points of the eight stations. The initial value is 80% of the player's total points in December 2020. The latter ratio gradually decreased, and by January 2022, the proportion would have dropped to 20%.
Now the ITTF has re-established the rules and deleted the "initial points".
Under the new World Ranking Rules, a player's World Ranking will be made up of the sum of the eight highest points earned in the last 12 months. Through the new world rankings, the finalists and seeded players of the ITTF and WTT World Table Tennis Federation series are determined.
Junior players have competed in more events this year and last year than adult players, so only a maximum of 4 junior events count towards the senior group.
The new world ranking rules take effect from Week 18 of 2022. That's when it starts this week.
Eliminating "initial points" allows players who have performed well in recent matches to improve their rankings and move to higher levels. Conversely, players who play less will be ranked lower in the world rankings, which may lead to the inability to participate in some important matches.
Xiang Chu gave a few main examples. For example, Fan Zhendong, from last year to this year, he won the Men's Singles Championship at the Houston World Table Tennis Championships (2000 points), the WTT Singapore Grand Slam Champion (2000 points), the 2021 WTT Singapore World Cup (1500 points), and the runner-up at the Tokyo Olympics (1400 points). He has 6900 points, topping the men's singles world rankings.
After Marlon competed in the Tokyo Olympics, he did not participate in international competitions for a long time. He won the gold medal at the Tokyo Olympics (2000 points) and the runner-up at the WTT Singapore Grand Slam (1400 points). With 3,400 points in both events, they were also able to finish second.
Liang Jingkun participated in six events in these two years, ranking third with 2700 points. Brazilian player Hugo competes frequently. Although I didn't get particularly good results, I also got a lot of points. He had 2570 points, fourth in the men's singles.
Among the female table tennis players, Chen Meng won the gold medal at the Tokyo Olympic Games (2000 points), the WTT Singapore Grand Slam champion (2000 points), the Houston World Table Tennis Championships Final Four (700 points), and the WTT Singapore World Cup Final Four (525 points), a total of 5225 points. Chen Meng ranks first in the world of women's table tennis.
Sun Yingsha won the WTT Singapore World Cup (1500 points), the Tokyo Olympic Games runner-up (1400 points), the Houston World Table Tennis Championships runner-up (1400 points), the WTT Singapore Grand Slam Final Four (700 points), a total of 5000 points, ranking second in the world of women's table tennis.
These players participate in more games and get good rankings, especially in major competitions, they get more points, so they are ranked higher. Players who play less are at a loss.
For example, Xu Xin, after participating in the Tokyo Olympics last year, only participated in this year's WTT Singapore Grand Slam. He didn't play in singles at the Tokyo Olympics, so naturally he didn't have points. Xu Xin only participated in the men's singles competition of the WTT Singapore Grand Slam, and only reached the round of 16, obtaining 175 points, and the world ranking fell sharply, only to 81st.
Speaking of Liu Shiwen, Liu Shiwen's situation is exactly the same as Xu Xin,she only participated in the singles competition of the WTT Singapore Grand Slam, and only entered the round of 16, obtaining 175 points, ranking lower in the world, only ranking 85th.
Zhu Yuling did not participate in the competition, and even more did not have a point, there was no ranking.
For Zhu Yuling, it may not be much. The likelihood that she will play later is very small. Xu Xin and Liu Shiwen were more miserable. Neither of them had any intention of retiring, but they competed in fewer competitions, resulting in a low world ranking.
According to the ITTF's idea, with the new ranking rules, players who have performed well in recent competitions can improve their rankings and enter higher level competitions. Players who play frequently are in favor of Brazilian player Hugo and Swedish player Dako Joczk in the top five, which is conducive to the future seed ranking.
This is a pain for players who play less often. Xu Xin and Liu Shiwen have participated in fewer competitions, the world ranking has dropped sharply, and it is possible that they may not be able to participate in some important competitions. In some games, there are only 64 singles players, 32 players, or less. Xu Xin and Liu Shiwen could not participate. Some events have more singles players, and even if they participate, they need to start from the qualification tournament. Those two Olympic champions are too faceless.
In the new world rankings, Liu Weishan ranked 17th, Fan Siqi ranked 20th, and Ku Man ranked 33rd. The new world rankings increase the chances of these young players competing and can directly enter the main tournament. This will accelerate the growth of young players, increase the chances of participating in major competitions, and increase the chances of getting a good place. At the same time, veterans such as Xu Xin and Liu Shiwen, if they cannot achieve good results in future competitions, the chances of participating will be reduced, and they will slowly withdraw from the table tennis world.
The same is true of the veterans of the foreign association, if they do not participate in the competition, the chances of participating in the competition will only be less and less in the future.