Few changes in the top 50 of the Men’s World Ranking list issued by
the International Table Tennis Federation on Wednesday 4th March 2009
but, several places lower down the order, those who performed
creditably on the ITTF Pro Tour in Kuwait and Qatar are rewarded.
Yoon
Jae Young (Korea), Zoran Primorac (Croatia), Tang Peng (Hong Kong),
Igor Rubtsov (Russia), Xu Xin (China), Patrick Baum (Germany), Sharath
Kamal Achanta (India), Janos Jakab (Hungary) and Mihai Bobocica (Italy)
all make notable strides.
Sharath Kamal Achanta
Sharath
Kamal Achanta excelled in Kuwait, recording an opening round win over
Hong Kong’s Ko Lai Chak before losing to the latter’s colleague, Li
Ching.
Achanta moves from no.89 to no.74.
Igor Rubtsov
Success
for Achanta in Kuwait but the man to enjoy the greatest success was
Igor Rubtsov. He excelled to beat the Czech Republic’s Petr Korbel, the
German duo of Dimitrij Ovtcharov and Christian Süss before being beaten
by China’s Ma Lin.
He moves from no.76 to no.57.
Kuwait and Qatar
Also in form in Kuwait was Italy’s Mihai Bobocica.
He
beat Poland’s Wang Zeng Yi before losing to Korea’s Ryu Seung Min and
he maintained his good form in Qatar, where he overcame Christian Süss
before China’s Wang Liqin ended progress.
The result, he gains a top one hundred place; formerly at no, 117, he is now at no.90.
Same Scenario
A fine effort in Qatar and that was the same scenario for Xu Xin, Zoran Primorac, Yoon Jae Young, Tang Peng and Janos Jakab.
Xu
Xin accounted for second seed and Chinese national team colleague, Ma
Long before losing to Hao Shuai, also from China; whilst Zoran Primorac
overcame Hong Kong’s Cheung Yuk before eventually losing to Wang Liqin.
Primorac moves from no.28 to no.24 whilst Xu Xin climbs from no.71 to no.54.
Yoon Jae Young
Similarly,
Yoon Jae Young beat notable opposition in Qatar. He overcame Austria’s
Chen Weixing and Chinese Taipei’s Chuang Chih-Yuan before losing to Ma
Lin.
He moves from no.27 to no.22.
Patrick Baum
Also
benefitting from a good performance in Qatar is Patrick Baum who beat
Romania’s Adrian Crisan before Korea’s Joo Se Hyuk ended adventures.
He moves from no.75 to no.76.
Likewise
It
is a likewise story for Janos Jakab and Tang Peng; the former beat
Germany’s Dimitrij Ovtcharov before losing to Portugal’s João Monteiro
whilst Tang Peng ousted Ryu Seung Min before the champion elect, Timo
Boll, halted progress.
Jakab moves from no.95 to no.85 whilst Tang Peng climbs from no.35 to no.30.
Top 10
Changes outside the top 50 but there are few for the very elite.
China’s Wang Hao retains his no.1 ranking with Ma Long changing places with Ma Lin. Ma Long is now at no.2 with Ma Lin at no.3.
Timo
Boll is one place below followed by Wang Liqin, Vladimir Samsonov, Chen
Qi and Hao Shuai, all occupying the same places as one month earlier.
The only further change amongst the top ten is that Joo Se Hyuk moves
to no.9 with Chuang Chih-Yuan dropping one place to no.10.
Joo
Se Hyuk was previously at no. 10 but wins in Kuwait over Wang Liqin and
in Qatar over Chen Qi have facilitated his elevation.
Under 21 Men and Under 18 Boys
In
the Under 21 Men’s Rankings there is no change at the top with Ma Long
occupying top spot ahead of Dimitrij Ovtcharov and Hong Kong’s Jiang
Tianyi.
Meanwhile, in the Under 18 Boys’ list, Japan’s Kenta
Matsudaira, the Under 21 Men’s Singles winner in Qatar, remains at no.1
being followed by Singapore’s Ma Liang; China’s Yan An moves from no.4
to no.3 with Chinese Taipei’s Chen Chien-An, the reigning World Junior
champion, moving in the reverse direction.
Under 15 Boys’ Ranking
Top
spot for Asia throughout and it is the same in the Under 15 Boys’
Rankings. The Chinese duo of Cheng Jingqi and Zhang Shenghwunan occupy
the top two places with Japan’s Koki Niwa at no.3.
The young
Japanese star won the Boys’ Singles crown at the ITTF Junior Circuit
Finals in 2008 and was most impressive in Doha at the Qatar Open;
certainly, a name to note.
Source: www.ittf.com
