Week 25 of the ITTF World Rankings has locked in the final quota places for the Paris 2024 Olympics based off the global ladder. The publication marks the end of a year long journey and is a reason to celebrate for athletes who have had their dreams of competing in Paris realised.

Among those holding their breath for the latest standings was Cedric Nuytinck, with his path to Paris going right down to the wire. Nuytinck was in action at last week’s WTT Star Contender Ljubljana and had everything still to play for. The Belgian needed a big performance in Slovenia to lock in a spot and he delivered. Nuytinck posted three wins in qualifying to head to the main draw, picking up the round of 64 points on offer and making it over the line for a place in Paris.

A player that put in the hard yards on the international scene to take a ticket was Debora Vivarelli. The Italian stalwart made 23 international appearances during the ranking period and has now been rewarded with a right to be nominated to compete in Paris. Looking back at Vivarelli’s path to qualification and her biggest points bonanza almost never came to be. Heading in to round 3 of qualifying at Singapore Smash this year, Vivarelli faced Solomiya Brateyko. It was a true marathon match with one game going to 21-19. The decider may just have been Vivarelli’s Paris tipping point, as the Italian saved a total of three match points in the final game to get over the line and claim her biggest ITTF World Ranking points haul of the year.

Also receiving good news this week were Spain’s Alvaro Robles and Maria Xiao. The duo had already claimed a ticket to Paris as a pair, securing their nomination at the World Mixed Doubles Table Tennis Qualification event back in April. Now both Robles and Xiao have added a second event to their Olympics roster, earning the right to be nominated in the Men’s and Women’s Singles respectively.

While the rankings have determined the final quota allocation, the complete list of athletes competing in Paris is still taking shape. National Olympic Committees (NOCs) will finalise their selections in the coming days, adding even more names to the roster of Olympic hopefuls.

As we await NOC confirmations* over the next few days, the ITTF website will be your one-stop shop for all the latest news on who will be vying for table tennis glory in Paris. Head over to the dedicated event page to delve deeper into the Paris 2024 table tennis competition, and check out the full Week 25 rankings list to see how your favourite players fared. Don’t miss out – the road to Paris is about to get even more exciting!