(by Steve Hopkins)

China continues to dominate the top of the ITTF Rankings holding the top three Men’s positions and the the top two Women’s positions.  On the Men’s side, Fan Zhendong (14145) now has a lead of over 3600 points over second ranked Ma Long (10510).  Xu Xin (8630) continues to hold third place, but only leads Hugo Calderano (8608) and Tomokazu Harimoto (8505) by a narrow margin.  After those top two slots, expect to see lots of movement in the 3-9 positions as the number of points between many of the players is small enough that it could change in just one event.

Lin Yun-Ju, Lin Gaoyuan, and Liang Jingkun hold the 6, 7, and 8 slots (all showing accumulated points between 7200 and 7350).  Dimitrij Ovtcharov and Timo Boll round out the top 10.  Kanak Jha is No. 28 (he is the third highest ranked player from outside of Asia or Europe – behind Hugo Calderano at No. 4 and Quadri Aruna at No. 14).

Chn Meng and Sun Yingsha have a substantial lead in the Women’s Rankings and are secure in their No. 1 and No. 2 positions.  Mima Ito is currently in third.  Wang Manyu, after a series of dominant performances is up to No. 4.  Wang Yidi, Ding Ning, Kasumi Ishikawa, Cheng I-Ching, Feng Tianwei, and Zhu Yuling round out the Top 10.  Puerto Rico’s Adriana Diaz is the top player from outside of Asia or Europe (she is ranked No. 17).  Lily Zhang, at No. 30, is the second highest ranked player from outside of Asia or Europe.

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