December World Ranking: Chinese Teenagers Progress

First published on Sunday, December 4, 2005

Last updated on Sunday, December 4, 2005

It is the teenage players from China who have made the most notable progress in the latest ITTF Men’s and Women’s World Ranking lists issued on Thursday 1st December 2005.

Seventeen year old MA Long climbs to no.21 in the men’s list, whilst in the counterpart female rankings, the two eighteen year olds, CAO Zhen and CHANG Chenchen appear at no.12 and no.28 respectively, nineteen year old FAN Ying is no.18, whilst fifteen year old, DING Ning, is now at no.31.

Ranked no.49 in the November 2005, MA Long recorded a series of victories over higher ranked players at both the Liebherr German and the Liebherr Swedish Opens; in Magdeburg notable scalps were Chinese Taipei’s, CHUAN Chih-Yuan, Korea’s OH Sang Eun and Germany’s Timo BOLL, whilst in Gothenburg he overcame the two players who reached the final of the Men’s Singles event at the 2003 Liebherr World Table Tennis Championships, Korea’s JOO Se Hyuk and Austria’s Werner SCHLAGER.

Steady Progress
Meanwhile, for CAO Zhen, CHANG Chenchen and FAN Ying the progress is a little less dramatic than that of MA Long. CAO Zhen and FAN Ying both progress four places, whilst CHANG Chenchen has moved eight places higher.

Progress for CAO Zhen is as a result of her unbeaten performances in both the Liebherr German and Liebherr Swedish Opens where, on both occasions, she won the Women’s Singles title. Meanwhile, for CHANG Chenchen and FAN Ying a series of consistent performances has been the reason for their progress.

FAN Ying was the runner up in the Women’s Singles event at the Liebherr German Open beating Korea’s KIM Kyung Ah in the semi-finals, whilst at the Liebherr Swedish Open she reached the third round where KIM Kyung Ah’s colleague, LEE Eun Hee, ended progress. CHANG Chenchen reached the third round of the Women’s Singles event at the Liebherr German Open, losing narrowly to Tamara BOROS, whilst at the Liebherr Swedish Open she went one round further, being beaten by DING Ning, the player who like MA Long has made giant strides.

Excelled
DING Ning was ranked no.54 on the November 2005 Women’s World Ranking list, she is now at no.31. Alongside CAO Zhen and CHANG Chenchen she was on duty at the Liebherr German Open and the Liebherr Swedish Open; in the former she progressed through the qualification group stage successfully but not unsurprisingly lost in the opening round of the main draw to the defensive skills of the Belarus backspin player, Viktoria PAVLOVICH, World ranked no.14.

However, the following week in Gothenburg she excelled. She beat Slovenia’s Martina SAFRAN, Hong Kong’s SONG Ah Sim and colleague,CHANG Chenchen to reach the semi-final stage where in seven games she lost to CAO Zhen.

Experience
Notable progress in the top fifty of the ITTF World Ranking lists for the young Chinese players whilst for their colleague, ZHANG Chao, he appears just outside the top fifty in the men’s list at no.58 having been ranked no.74 in November 2005.

Meanwhile, for the more experienced brigade Belgium’s Jean-Michel SAIVE, who celebrated his thirty-sixth birthday the day before the Liebherr Swedish Open commenced, is back in the top ten. A return to the highest echelon is mainly as a result of his heroic performances on the ITTF Pro Tour in Gothenburg, where he reached the final of the Men’s Singles event with wins over Korea’s LIM Jae Hyun, Italy’s YANG Min and the Dominican Republic’s LIN Ju followed by success against Trinko KEEN of the Netherlands and China’s LIU Guozheng.

SAIVE lost in the final to Timo BOLL who retains his no.2 ranked position behind China’s WANG Liqin whilst Vladimir SAMSONOV of Belarus, the winner of the Men’s Singles event at the Liebherr German Open moves up two places to n.3. Also in good form at the Liebherr German Open was the host nation’s Zoltan FEJER-KONNERTH, he reached the semi-final of the Men’s Singles event and as a direct result moves from no.46 to no.38 whilst than man he beat in the quarter-finals in Magdeburg, Serbia’s Aleksandar KARAKASEVIC, also progresses, he moves from no.60 to no.45.

Similar
Progress for a group of more experienced players in the Men’s World Ranking list and it is also the same in the Women’s list. Hungary’s Krisztina TÓTH, winner of the Women’s Singles event at the Eurosib Russian Open moves up seven places to no.19 whilst Germany’s Nicole STRUSE, who reached the quarter-final stage of the Women’s Singles event at the Liebherr German Open and the third round at the Liebherr Swedish Open, is now at no.24, having been ranked no.30 in November 2005.

A higher position than one month earlier for Nicole STRUSE and the same scenario for her new found national team colleague, WU Jiaduo, the player who gained German nationality in November 2005. She moves from no.52 to no.39.

Also entering the top fifty is Japan’s Saki KANAZAWA at no.40 and Korea’s LEE Eun Hee at no.42 whilst cementing her place in the top fifty is Italy’s Nicoletta STEFANOVA, she moves five places higher to no.45.

Under 21 & Under 18 Rankings
Meanwhile, in the Under 21 Men’s Ranking list, China’s CHEN Qi and Korea’s LEE Jung Woo retain first and second places respectively with MA Long moving to no.3. In the Under 18 Boys’ Ranking list, MA Long remains at no.1 with Japan’s Jun MIZUTANI retaining his number two position, ahead of compatriot Seiya KISHIKAWA who progresses one place to no.3.

Chinese players are dominant in the male rankings and they are even more dominant in the counterpart women’s lists where the top three positions are both the same and all are occupied by Chinese players. GUO Yue who is ranked no.2 on the ITTF Women’s Ranking list behind Olympic and World champion, ZHANG Yining, is at number one on the Under 21 and Under 18 lists, whilst CAO Zhen and LI Xiaoxia change places. CAO Zhen is now at no.2 with LI Xiaoxia n.3.

Image: MA Long, a young man who is making major progress

Courtesy of ITTF

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December World Ranking: Chinese Teenagers Progress

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