(by Steve Hopkins, photo ITTFWorld )
ITTF has processed a major reset of points to start off the 2022 year. In the last rankings, which was a continuation of 2021 points, Fan Zhedong was at 14145 and had a 3600 point advantage over second place. After the point reset, Fan is at 8598 – and is 3194 ahead of second place Ma Long (5404). Hugo Calderano has climbed up to No. 3, followed by Tomokazu Harimoto in 4th. Liang Jingkun is in the fifth position with Dimitrij Ovtcharov, Lin Yun-Ju and Timo Boll in the 6, 7, and 8 positions. Xu Xin has dropped six spots to No. 9. Lin Gaoyuan rounds out the Top 10.
China still holds a dominant position with 5 of the Top 10. Germany has 2 in the Top 8 (and three in the Top 15 as Patrick Franziska is up to No.14). Mattias Falck has dropped to No. 15, but he stays just ahead of Swedish teammate Truls Moregard (No. 15) who has jumped up 13 places after making the Final at the World Championships. USA’s Kanak Jha is at No. 31.
The top two spots in the Women’s rankings have swapped – with Sun Yingsha taking over first, followed by Chen Meng. Mima Ito maintains her third position ahead of Wang Manyu. Wang Yidi is No. 5 followed by Hina Hayata, Doo Hoi Kem, Kasumi Ishikawa, Feng Tianwei and Jeon Jihee.
Puerto Rico’s Adriana Diaz jumped 6 spots to No. 11 – her highest World Ranking ever. USA’s Lily Zhang is No. 35, Canada’s Mo Zhang is No. 42, and Jennifer Wu is now No. 48.
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