On October 1, Beijing time, the International Table Tennis Federation announced the world rankings for the 40th week of 2024. The World Table Tennis Federation (WTT) China Grand Slam is in full swing, starting on September 26 last week and continuing until October 6 this Sunday. WTT did not organise any other senior tournaments last week, but only hosted one feeder event in Saudi Arabia, so there was no change in the top 100 rankings in the five individual events this week.
Men's singles
This week's top ten in the world are: 1. Wang Chuqin, 2. Fan Zhendong, 3. Hugo · Calderano, 4. Liang Jingkun, 5. Felix · Lebrun, 6. Ma Long, 7. Lin Shidong, 8. Lin Gaoyuan, 9. Zhang Benzhihe, 10. Lin Yunru.
Wang Chuqin topped the list with 7,925 points, a position that cannot be shaken in a short period of time. Fan Zhendong, who ranked second, retired in a row, and the world ranking can only fall, let alone catch up with the world No. 1. Wang Chuqin's 600-point championship points at last year's WTT Lanzhou Star Challenge are about to expire, and aside from the results of this week's China Grand Slam, there are still 500 points from the Hangzhou Asian Games men's singles champion, so his total points will not drop significantly for the time being.
The fastest growing player in the men's singles at this stage is Lin Shidong, who is now setting a new career high with every step forward. He has won two WTT tournaments in a row, and is also in great form at the Chinese Grand Slam, and if he reaches the top again, he will reach a total of 5,965 points, which could soar directly to third in the world.
Ma Long's 420 points for the men's singles runner-up at last year's WTT Lanzhou station are about to expire, and he was penalized 0 points in two championship matches, and if China does not break into the quarterfinals in the Grand Slam, the ranking may continue to fall.
Women's singles
The top ten in the world are still 1. Sun Yingsha, 2. Chen Meng, 3. Wang Manyu, 4. Wang Yidi, 5. Hina Hayata, 6. Chen Xingtong, 7. Miwa Zhangmoto, 8. Shen Yubin, 9. Misei Ito, 10. Zheng Yijing.
Sun Yingsha is firmly at the top of the list with 9600 points. Chen Meng, the women's singles runner-up at last year's Lanzhou Star Challenge, will be deducted 420 points next week, and will overtake Chen Meng to move to second place regardless of Wang's results at the Chinese Grand Slam. With Wang Yidi out of the first round, Wang Manyu will gradually widen the points gap with other players, or will form the "first group" with Sun Yingsha.
Men's Doubles
The Men's Doubles world rankings remained unchanged this week, with the top three being Ma Long/Wang Chuqin, Fan Zhendong/Wang Chuqin, and Ma Long/Lin Gaoyuan. And these three pairs of combinations as Fan Zhendong and Ma Long fade out of the main layer of the national team, it is impossible to increase the points. In the Chinese Grand Slam, the national table tennis sent 5 pairs of men's doubles pairs to participate, Lin Gaoyuan/Lin Shidong, Xiang Peng/Yuan Licen, Liang Jingkun/Wang Chuqin, etc., are all favorites to win the championship, and I hope that young players can hold up this day.
Women's Doubles
The Women's Doubles world rankings remained unchanged this week, with the national table tennis pair Chen Meng/Wang Manyu continuing to top the rankings with 5,478 points. Korea's Tian Zhixi/Shin Yubin are second with 4,190 points, 2,000 points higher than third-place Zheng Yijing/Li Yuzhen.
However, the first two pairs did not participate in the Chinese Grand Slam, and Zheng Yijing/Li Yuzhen, the top seeds of the tournament, will surpass the Korea pair in points if they can win the title, but it will be difficult. The 5 pairs of women's doubles pairs of national table tennis are eyeing each other, and no player from the foreign association can take away this championship.
Mixed doubles
The mixed doubles world top 100 rankings have not changed this week. Wang Chuqin/Sun Yingsha firmly ranked first with 8,016 points, and the other combinations were far behind in points.
Another national table tennis pair, Kuo Man and Lin Shidong, ranked fifth, won last year in Lanzhou and will be deducted 600 championship points next week. However, regarded as the "future star" of the national table tennis mixed doubles, Lin Shidong/Kuo Man may be able to achieve good results in this week's China Grand Slam, and it should not be difficult to make up for 600 points.
This week, in addition to the Chinese Grand Slam tournament, the World Table Tennis Federation also held a feeder tournament in Doha, and the national table tennis also sent a group of fifteen or sixteen-year-old players to practice. The ranking of the top 10 singles players in the world may not change much next week, but the world ranking of the second-tier players in national table tennis will collectively usher in a significant increase.