Table Tennis World Ranking

The table tennis world ranking list is a computerised rating system.
So do you know who the best table tennis players are? ...

The International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) produces a world ranking list by entering the results of matches played in authorised events into a computerised database.

Using these results, the ITTF is able to produce a current list of the best table tennis players in the world.

Separate ranking lists are produced each month for the top men and the top women table tennis players, but these lists are also sub-divided in order to produce lists for other categories ... such as ... only players under 21 years, or players under 18 years or players by continent.

So, let's take a brief look at how the lists are produced, which players dominate and then the world ranking lists themselves.

  How are the table tennis world ranking lists compiled?

Players are given Starting Points and enter the world ranking list as soon as they've had two wins against ranked players - but only results from the last four years will count.

All players who've had no results for 12 months or more are removed from the world ranking lists - except that players who took part in the World Championships remain on the lists until the next World Championships.

Bonus Points are awarded to players who reach the final positions in the Singles events of the Olympic Games, the World Championships, Continental Championships, the ITTF Pro-Tour and some other individual events.

These Bonus Points remain valid for a period of 12 months except that the Olympic Games Bonus Points are reduced by 25% per year and the World Championships Bonus Points and Biennial Continental Championships Bonus Points are reduced by 50% per year.

  When are table tennis world ranking lists issued?

The ITTF was founded in 1926, and in 1928 they published the first World Ranking list for men and for women.

For many years these rankings were only issued once a year, sometimes twice ... but in 1991, with the assistance of computers, this frequency gradually increased.

Now they're produced on a monthly basis and are generally issued on the first day of the month.

  So who dominates the world ranking lists?

Well, as you might expect, the Asian players, particularly the Chinese table tennis players, dominate the world rankings.

Timo Boll from Germany, Vladimir Samsonov from Belarus and Michael Maze from Denmark are the only non-asian players currently in the top ten of the men's world rankings, whilst there are no non-asian players in the top twenty of the women's world rankings (although some of them now represent other countries).

Three of the best men in the World Ranking List - All Chinese!

Wang Hao                   Ma Lin                   Ma Long

  Latest table tennis world rankings

The latest table tennis world ranking lists are detailed below.

Please check this page each month for an update.

These are pdf files. What's a pdf file?

A pdf file is just a type of computer file (like a Word doc file) that requires a particular computer program (like Microsoft Word) to be able to view it.
However, the good news is that the computer program you require - Adobe Acrobat Reader - is free and is pre-installed on all new computers.

But, even if you have an older computer and don't have this program installed on your computer already, you can download it here for free right now from the Adobe website.

Notes:

Players' positions on the previous ranking list are shown in brackets in column 2.

(<<) = no change in position from the previous ranking list

(unr) = did not appear on the previous ranking list

New players are marked as follows:

"n" the first time they enter the ranking list

"r" in the period during which their Starting Points are re-assessed, ie from the moment they reached 2 wins until the time they reach 5 significant wins and 5 significant losses

"f" in the first list where their Starting Points have become final.

Players marked * have had no results entered for 6 months, and players marked ** have had no results entered for more than 1 year.

These players may re-enter the lists if a result is entered for them in the future. Players who have no results entered for more than 4 years are treated as new players.

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