(by Steve Hopkins)
USA’s Kanak Jha was the biggest mover in the Men’s Top 50 this week, jumping up 19 slots all the way to World No. 26 off of the strength of his Pan Am Cup championship. Jha is about 100 points from the Top 25, and under 300 points from the Top 20 (exactly 300 points from No. 19, which would equal the highest ranking of his career). Jha’s opponent in the Pan Am Cup this weekend was Eugene Wang, who gained an amazing 101 spots all the way up to No. 66 – regaining Canada’s top position in the World Rankings.
USA’s Lily Zhang gained 17 spots and is now No. 25 in the World. Lily is the third highest player from this hemisphere after Adriana Diaz of Puerto Rico at No. 16, and Pan Am Cup winner Bruna Takahashi at No. 21.
At the top of the Men’s Rankings, there were no changes. However, Lin Shidong’s lead has now narrowed to only 100 points as No. 2 Wang Chuqin won the Asian Cup. Liang Jingkun is at No. 3, Tomokazu Harimoto is at No. 4, and Hugo Calderano has jumped back over Felix Lebrun (who are No. 5 and No. 6).
Very little movement on the Women’s side of the rankings as nine Chinese players appear in the Top 20 (led by Yingsha, Manyu, Yidi, Xingtong who hold positions 1-4), and six Japanese players join them in the Top 20. Hina Hayata is the top non-Chinese player at No. 5, Bernadette Szocs is the top European player at No. 13, and Adriana Diaz (No. 16) is the first to appear in the rankings from outside of Europe and Asia.
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