by Ian Marshall, ITTF Publications Manager

Next in line in the no.3 position is Kasumi Ishikawa, the winner at the 2018 ITTF World Tour Platinum German Open; she is one place ahead of Singapore’s Feng Tianwei who remains in the no.4 spot.

Beaten by Liu Shiwen in the Qatar final, Wang Manyu climbs two places to no.5, being ahead of Japan’s Miu Hirano who remains in the no.6 berth. Immediately following is the latter’s colleague, Mima Ito who falls to places and is now at no.7. She is one place ahead of Chinese Taipei’s Cheng I-Ching and China’s Chen Xingtong who retain their April positions of no.8 and no.9 respectively.

Also from China, Ding Ning, the reigning Olympic and World champion, moves from no.14 to no.11; Korea’s Su Hyowon, beaten by Kasumi Ishikawa in the German final, completes the top 12 names. Formerly she was listed at no.15.

Progress, further down the order in the top 50 names, there is notable progress for China’s Sun Yingsha, Germany’s Han Ying and Korea’s Jeon Jihee. Sun Yingsha moves from no.34 to no.15, Han Ying from no.42 to no.31 and Jeon jihee from no.48 to no.35.

Meanwhile on the age group rankings; Saki Shibata, the winner in both Germany and Spain climbs one place to head the Under 21 Women’s World Rankings; she replaces Hong Kong’s Minnie Soo Wai Yam. China’s Chen Ke, formerly at no.9, completes the top three names.

A change at the top of the Under 21 Women’s list, it is the same for the Under 18 Girls but not the Under 15 Girls; for the former, China’s Qian Tianyi is the new leader, she changes places with compatriot Sun Yingsha who drops on position to no.2; also from China, Shi Yunyao remains in the no.3 spot.

On the Under 15 Girls’ World Rankings, the top three remain the same; Russia’s Elizabet Abramian continues in top spot followed by Romania’s Elena Zaharia and Chinese Taipei’s Huang Yu-Jie.

Monday 2nd April: Latest World Rankings