Progress for the ladies in waiting; that is the scenario following
the publication of the Women’s World Ranking list on Tuesday 3rd
February 2009 by the International Table Tennis Federation.
The Chinese quartet of Liu Shiwen, Cao Zhen, Fan Ying and Yao Yan, all climb several steps up the ladder of excellence.
None gained selection for their country’s national team in 2008 in the world’s most prestigious events in 2008.
A place did not come their way at the either the Evergrande Real
Estate World Team Championships in Guangzhou or at the Beijing Olympic
Games; such is the power of Chinese table tennis.
Fine Performances
However, in January 2009 all showed their pedigree on the ITTF Pro Tour with fine performances at the Slovenia and Danish Opens.
Furthermore,
the quartet demonstrated the fact that, should any member of the
Chinese elite falter, they are ready and more than capable of stepping
into golden slippers.
Higher Status
Seventeen
year old Liu Shiwen moves from no.22 to no.17 following her victory in
Denmark and her semi-final finish in Slovenia, whilst immediately below
the teenage star the names of Cao Zhen and Fan Ying are listed.
Cao
Zhen, the winner in Slovenia, advances from no.17 to no.14 whilst the
player she beat in the gold medal contest in Velenje also climbs three
places. She moves from no.18 to no.15.
Highest Ever Ranking
Notable
progress for Liu Shiwen, Cao Zhen and Fan Ying whilst for the tall Yao
Yan, it is the very same scenario. Winner of the Girls’ Singles title
at the ITTF Junior Circuit Finals in 2006, she moves from no.30 to
no.23.
It is the Yao Yan’s highest ever world ranking; her
previous best was no.28, a position she held from September to December
2008.
Top Placesl
Higher
rankings for four Chinese stars with players from that country, as
always, very much to the fore. Zhang Yining, Guo Yue, Li Xiaoxia, Guo
Yan and Wang Nan occupy the top five places as they did one month
earlier in January.
Similarly, the Singaporean trio of Feng
Tianwei, Li Jia Wei and Wang Yue Gu command the next three places with
the one change in the top 10 being a change of places for Hong Kong’s
Tie Yana and Korea’s Kim Kyung Ah.
Tie Yana drops one place to no.10; Kim Kyung Ah climbs one place to no.9.
Few Changes at Top
Meanwhile
in the age group listings Liu Shiwen moves to no.3, changing places
with Japan’s Ai Fukuhara who drops to no.4 with Guo Yue and Li Xiaoxia
occupying the top two spots whilst in the Under 18 and Under 15 Girls’
Rankings, there is no change at the very top.
In the former, Liu
Shiwen is ranked no.1 followed by colleagues Wu Yang and Cao Lisi whist
Chen Meng, also from China, leads the Under 15 Girls’ Rankings followed
by Korea’s Yang Ha Eun and Germany’s Petrissa Solja.
Source: www.ittf.com
