ITTF Pro Tour Standings

5/26/2008       

The name Ma Lin is the one that stands out the most prominently on the current ITTF Pro Tour Standings, following the conclusion of the Volkswagen Open Japan and the Stag Belarus Open.

He is in the number one position on the Men’s Singles Standings and in the number one position in the Men’s Doubles Standings with Chen Qi and with Wang Hao.

Meanwhile, in the Women’s Singles Standings Zhang Yining that is head and shoulders above all others and in the Women’s Doubles Standings she occupies both second places.

Both second places, a contradiction in terms? No it’s the same scenario as Ma Lin with Chen Qi and Wang Hao. Zhang Yining won in Kuwait with Wang Nan and in Qatar with Guo Yue; so the two pairs have 7,200 points.

Consistent Performances
Leaders in the Women’s Doubles Standings are Li Jia Wei and Sun Bei who have played in the doubles events in four ITTF Pro Tour tournaments and on two continents; thus they have met the basic criteria to qualify for the Volkswagen Pro Tour Grand Finals in December of having played together on four occasions.

No titles to their name, just a string of good performances; they were the runners up at the Salwa Cup Kuwait Open, the Brasil Open and the Chile Open, whilst at the Erke Qatar Open they were quarter-finalists.

Zhang Yining
However, when it comes to the singles events, no-one in 2008 has a better record than Zhang Yining. Every time she has played she has won. She succeeded in Kuwait, Doha, China and Japan.

Meanwhile, for the men, the record of Ma Lin is not that far behind.

Bad Starts
He suffered a hiccup in Kuwait on his 2008 debut on the ITTF Pro Tour when he suffered defeat in the third round of the Men’s Singles event at the hands of Korea’s Joo Se Hyuk but from that point onwards the semi-finals or better has always been his lot.

The Chinese star won in Doha and more recently in Yokohama he was crowned champion; whilst in Changchun he reached the semi-finals losing to Wang Liqin.

Most Successful
Next in line on the Men’s Singles Standings is Vladimir Samsonov, he has won more Men’s Singles titles in 2008 than any other player; he won in Slovenia, Kuwait and in his native Belarus.

Asian Dominance
The worrying fact for the world of table tennis that he is the only non Asian player in the top twelve, the nearest to him being Denmark’s Michael Maze at number fifteen, Austria’s Chen Weixing at eighteen and Romania’s Adrian Crisan at twenty.

In the Women’s Singles Standings it is a similar story; the only non Asian born player in the top twenty is Veronika Pavlovich of Belarus, the runner up in the Women’s Singles event in Slovenia and a semi-finalist in her home country.

Learnt Trade in China
However, three players who learnt their trade in China before moving to foreign shores do appear in the top twenty; Li Jiao of the Netherlands is at six, Wang Chen from the United States is at fifteen with Austria’s Liu Jia at twenty.

More Promising
Not good news for Europe in the senior standings but in the Under 21 lists the news is more promising.

Emmanuel Lebesson of France, the winner of the Under 21 Men’s Singles event in Slovenia heads list with Russia’s Kirill Skachkov is second spot, the latter winning in Qatar.

Good News for Europe
Meanwhile, on the Under 21 Women’s Singles Standings it is also good news for Europe. Romania’s Daniela Dodean leads the field having won in Slovenia, Kuwait and Qatar with Japan’s Misako Wakamiya in second spot and Romanian colleague, Elizabeta Samara, third.