With effect from 1 January 2018 the ITTF introduced a new system for calculating world rankings.

It's much simpler than the previous system and it's designed to encourage players to play in more World Ranking events.

Players now receive World Ranking Points based only on the final position they reach at tournaments. So, the better they perform, the more points they'll receive.

The number of World Ranking Points a player receives varies according to the competition being played, with the most prestigious events offering the most points.

These were amended again in 2021 with the formation of the WTT events.

Although players can enter many events throughout the year, only their best 8 results during the last 12 months are used (with a maximum of one continental event) to calculate their World Ranking.

The previous system also included losing points when they lost a match, but this no longer applies.

And separate ranking lists are now calculated for each age category by only using results achieved in the respective age category. In the previous system, only one list was compiled and rankings for the age categories were just a sub set of the main list.

Under the pre-2018 system, players entered the table tennis world ranking list as soon as they had at least two wins against players already ranked.

Players were given Starting Points and these starting points were re-calculated each time a new World Ranking was produced, up to the moment a player reached or passed the limit of five wins and five losses against already ranked players.

Then these "Starting Points" become final.

But under the new system, every player who has earned ITTF Ranking points in an eligible tournament during the ranking period is included in the ITTF World Rankings.

Well, as you might expect, the Asian players, particularly the Chinese table tennis players, have dominated the table tennis world rankings for many years.

However, the new system has shaken up the rankings, and players such as Dimitrij Ovtcharov and Timo Boll from Germany are now riding high, along with Egypt's Omar Assar and Brazil's Hugo Calderano in the top twenty.

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

by courtesy of the ITTF

Please check this page each month for an update.

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To see the top 100 players on the latest table tennis world ranking lists, you can download the attached files below.

Please check this page each month for an update.

These are pdf files.