by Ian Marshall, ITTF Publications Editor
A drop of one place for Zhang Jike, for colleagues Ma Long, Fan Zhendong and Xu Xin it is the status quo; they retain the top three positions.
It is for Ma Long the 29th consecutive month since regaining first place in March 2015 that he has led the list; the 59th time in his career, he first ascended to the pinnacle in January 2010.
Progress for Dimitrij Ovtcharov, likewise there is progress for colleague Timo Boll, the player he beat in the China final; he moves from no.8 to no.6, being ahead of Japan’s Jun Mizutani and Hong Kong’s Wong Chun Ting. Koki Niwa, also from Japan, remains at no.9 with China’s Fang Bo, Korea’s Lee Sangsu and Vladimir Samsonov of Belarus completing the top 12 names.
Notably Fang Bo climbs one place, for Lee Sangsu, formerly at no.13; now at no.11, for the second consecutive month he enjoys the highest listing of his career. One previous best to another for Lee Sangsu; it is the same for colleague, Lim Jonghoon. He climbs from no.64 to no.49.
Progress for Korea but the country to enjoy the greatest level of progress is Japan.
Tomokazu Harimoto, Masaki Yoshida, Jin Ueda and Kazuhiro Yoshimura all achieve the highest status of their careers, whilst Kenta Matsudaira equals his previous best.
Formerly at a career high of no.39, Tomokazu Harimoto is now at no.18; likewise Kazuhiro Yoshimura advances from last month’s previous height of no.127 to no.91.
Equally in impressive fashion, Masaki Yoshida moves from no.47 to no.22; Jin Ueda from no.80 to no.45 and Kenta Matsudaira from no.18 to no.15. The previous best for Masaki Yoshida was no.32 in August 2015, for Jin Ueda no.75 earlier this year in April, whilst in December 2013 Kenta Matsudaira occupied the no.15 spot.
New heights, it is the same for Frenchman, Emmanuel Lebesson and Belgium’s Cédric Nuytinck. Emmanuel Lebesson moves from a previous best of no.38 in June to no.26; Cédric Nuytinck from no.106 to no.80. The prior high for Cédric Nuytinck was no.83 earlier this year in January.
Major progress, it is the same for Egypt’s Omar Assar and Qatar’s Li Ping; both approach their best ever status. Omar Assar moves from no.58 to no.38; Li Ping from no.52 to no.42. The previous best for Omar Assar is no.29 in January 2016, for Li Ping, no.26 in May and June of the same year.
Higher status but there are those who must pay the price; notably amongst the leading names, Brazil’s Hugo Calderano falls from no.17 to no.27, Chinese Taipei’s Chen Chien-An from no.36 to no.50.
Meanwhile, on the age listings there are no changes at the very top but immediately below there is movement; the name of Tomokazu Harimoto being the most prevalent.
He continues to head the Under 18 Boys’ and Under 15 Boys’ World Rankings, whilst on the Under 21 Men’s order of merit he moves from no.4 to no.2, being behind Fan Zhendong. The result being that Brazil’s Hugo Calderano and Japan’s Yuto Muramatsu are now in respective second and third positions. Each drops one place.
Similarly, following his successes at both the China Junior and Cadet Open as well as at the Korean Air 2017 Asian Junior and Cadet Championships, China’s Niu Guankai returns to the global order. He re-enters the Under 18 Boys’ World Rankings at no.3, being one place behind Japan’s Yuto Kizukuri; on the Under 15 Boys’ listings, he appears in the no.2 spot.
Also, there is a return for Wang Chuqin and Xue Fei, likewise from China; they are next in line to Niu Guankai on the Under 18 Boys’ World Rankings. The outcome is that Korea’s An Jaehyun falls from no.3 to no.6.
Down the list for Korea, it is the same in the Under 15 Boys’ World Rankings. Cho Daeseong falls one place to no.3; likewise it is one place lower for Russia’s Vladimir Sidorenko, he is now in the no.4 spot.
World Rankings: Wednesday 5th July 2017
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