by Ian Marshall, Editor

Progress, at the very top of the order for the leading four names it is the status quo. Fan Zhendong and compatriot, Xu Xin occupy the top two positions; they remain ahead of Germany’s Timo Boll and China’s Lin Gaoyuan. Japan’s Tomokazu Harimoto advances one position to occupy the no.5 spot.

Next in line to Hugo Calderano is Korea Republic’s Lee Sangsu followed by Hong Kong’s Wong Chun Ting, both retain their November places, as do Japan’s Koki Niwa, China’s Ma Long and Sweden’s Mattias Falck, the names that once again complete the top 12.The player to suffer is Germany’s Dimitrij Ovtcharov, who started the year in the no.1 spot; he drops from no.5 to no.9.

Meanwhile amongst the top 50 names, there is also notable progress for Japan’s Jun Mizutani who climbs from no.19 to no.13 and for Chinese Taipei’s Lin Yun-Ju who advances from no.40 to no.28.

Similarly, lower down the listings, Kanak Jha of the United States moves from no.65 to no.51, Japan’s Kazuhiro Yoshimura from no.85 to no.65; in a likewise vein Brazil’s Eric Jouti progresses from no.102 to no.81, Russia’s Alexander Shibaev from no.136 to no.96. It is the same for Belgium’s Florent Lambiet who now stands at no.91 and Mexico’s Marcos Madrid who is one place lower at no.92; on the immediate previous listing, Florent Lambiet was at no.114, Marcos Madrid at no.113.

Notably, there is also progress for aspiring young Chinese players; Liu Dingshuo moves from no.84 to no.67, Wang Chuqin from no.103 to no.85 and Zheng Peifeng from no.148 to no.90.

Conversely, colleagues, Fang Bo and Zhou Yu drop down the order; Fang Bo falls from no.32 to no.62; Zhou Yu from no.43 to no.60. Also there is a noticeable drop for Poland’s Jakub Dyjas; formerly at no.56, he is now at no.68.

Sunday 2nd December: Complete World Rankings