Recently, the national table tennis team is competing in Doha for the Star Challenge, and in the process of preparing for this competition, the ITTF has updated the latest rankings for 2024. Compared with the end of 2023, this year's ranking has changed a lot, which may affect the lineup arrangement for the next Paris Olympics.
First of all, let's take a look at the men's singles, Fan Zhendong is still ranked first, and his points are 7455 points. But at the same time, Wang Chuqin, who was in second place, was constantly chasing frantically and was about to catch up with the first. Although Wang Chuqin is still in second place, his points have come to 6,470 points, which means that the points gap between Wang Chuqin and Fan Zhendong is less than 1,000 points. If he wins the championship in this star tournament next, it is entirely possible that Wang Chuqin will surpass Fan Zhendong and regain the world No. 1 ranking. For Fan Zhendong, the pressure is very high, and for Wang Chuqin, it is possible to usher in a counterattack before the Olympic Games, and I hope he will grasp it well.
In addition to these two players, Ma Long is ranked third, while Liang Jingkun is ranked fourth with 3,120 points, and Lin Gaoyuan is sixth. Compared with the previous players, Lin Gaoyuan has made great progress, and suddenly came to sixth place with 2680 points. Although there is still a big gap between his points and the top three, the gap between his points and Liang Jingkun is getting smaller and smaller. If he can get a good ranking in the finals or semifinals of this star competition, Lin Gaoyuan can continue to shorten the gap with Da Fat. Under such circumstances, with the arrival of the Paris Olympics in the future, perhaps Lin Gaoyuan has a chance to get a place as a P card player, and I hope he will work hard to fight for a breath.
Compared with the men's singles, the overall changes in the women's singles are not particularly large. The top four are still Sun Yingsha, Wang Yidi, Wang Manyu and Chen Meng. Among them, the gap between Wang Manyu, Wang Manyu and Wang Yidi is not particularly large, and Wang Manyu may catch up with Wang Yidi, who is in second place, at any time. For Wang Yidi, the next step is to continue to work hard to expand his advantages. Of course, judging from the ranking, Chen Meng should be the most stressed and worried. On the one hand, she is getting older and older, and on the other hand, injuries continue to plague her, resulting in the first sister's grades not being able to improve. If she doesn't maintain her ranking as the Three Musketeers before the Paris Olympics, she is likely to be disqualified from the Olympics and at best earn a place for a P-card. For the first sister of national table tennis, the current situation is relatively critical.
Judging from the rankings of the major main forces, the men's singles and women's singles are more competitive than in 2023. While the top players are in a solid position, the fourth, fifth, or lower players are under a lot of pressure. Especially young core players like Liang Jingkun and Lin Gaoyuan, if they want to enter the Three Musketeers and get an Olympic ticket, they will have to work harder.