by Ian Marshall, ITTF Publications Editor
The appearance of Sun Yingsha means a drop of one place for Japan’s Mima Ito who now stands at no.11 and two places for colleague Wu Yang, now at no.13; sandwiched in between is Hitomi Sato, also from Japan, she remains at no.12.
Also, further up the ladder there are changes on the Women’s World Rankings; Ding Ning retains the no.1 spot for tenth consecutive month, the 45th time in her career since being elevated to the pinnacle in December 2013. However, immediately below there is movement, Chinese national team colleagues Zhu Yuling and Liu Shiwen change places, the former now being in second spot.
Progress for Zhu Zhuling, there is also progress for her compatriot, Chen Meng; she climbs one place to no.4, whilst Japan’s Miu Hirano advances two places to no.5. The elevation of Zhu Yuling and Chen Meng means they match the previous best of their careers; for Miu Hirano it is a new high; the previous highest being one month ago at no.7. Zhu Yuling was listed at no.2 in November and December 2015; also earlier this year from February to April. Chen Meng was named at no.4 from March to May 2014.
A higher status for Miu Hirano means that it is a drop of two places to no.6 for Singapore’s Feng Tianwei and one place to no.7 for Japan’s Kasumi Ishikawa. Immediately below, Chinese Taipei’s Cheng I-Ching remains at no.8; as does Germany’s Han Ying at no.9.
Changes and, on both the Under 21 Women’s and the Under 18 Girls’ World Rankings, the return of 16 year old Sun Yingsha means alterations at the top of the order. On both lists, Miu Hirano continues lead, Sun Yingsha is now in second spot; Mima Ito drops one place to no.3. Likewise on the former it is a drop of one place to no.4 for Hitomi Sato, the exact same on the latter for Hina Hayata, also from Japan.
No change at the very top but that is not the situation on the Under 15 Girls’ World Rankings, Japan’s 12 year old Miyuu Kihara now heads the list. She changes places with colleague, Miyu Nagasaki who is now in the no.2 spot. Similarly, the next two places change hands; both from the United States Amy Wang is now at no.3, Crystal Wang at no.4.
Top of the list for Miyuu Kihara, her best ever, it is the same on the Women’s World Rankings; she climbs from a previous high of no.120, to no.94.
New heights for Miyuu Kihara; further up the list it is the same for Singapore’s Zeng Jian in addition to the Chinese trio of Wang Manyu, Chen Ke and Qian Tianyi.
Zeng Jian moves from no.24 to no.17, her prior best being no.18 in October 2016; Wang Manyu climbs from no.43 to no.13, her previous highest being no.36 in March 2015.
Meanwhile, Chen Ke and Qian Tianyi both re-enter the order of merit. Chen Ke is listed at no.70, Qian Tianyi at no.82; the prior best for Chen Ke was no.77 in March 2015, for Qian Tianyi, no.99 in November 2016.
Similarly, it is a return to the order of merit for colleagues Chen Xingtong and Shi Xunyao; Chen Xingtong appears at no.52, Shi Xunyao at no.71. Both are a short distance below their best; Chen Xingtong reached no.45 earlier this year in February and April, Shi Xunyao, likewise in February, stood at no.65.
Progress and there are consequently those who fall; notably the Hong Kong duo of Doo Hoi Kem and Tie Yana plummet as does Japan’s Hina Hayata. Doo Hoi Kem drops from no.17 to no.28, Hina Hayata from no.19 to no.29 and Tie Yana from no.28 to no.38.
World Rankings: Wednesday 5th July 2017
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