Meanwhile, in the women's ranking Chen Meng stays strong at the head of the list for an eighth consecutive edition.
Is there any stopping the wonder in women’s table tennis, often referred to as Chen Meng?
The simple answer is a big ‘no’, as the magical athlete from China stays at the summit for an unprecedented eighth(!) edition running, with a mammoth 17,015 points. Chen did her competitors no favours after she won the first World Tour Platinum gold medal on offer over the weekend, beating Ding Ning (3-11, 11-1, 11-7, 11-3, 11-1) in an exuberant performance.
“I just treated this final like any other match that needs to be won. Regardless of whether I win or lose, all events provide me with valuable experience for me to learn from. Of course winning gives me more confidence, but losing allows me to see the flaws in my game.” Chen Meng
Sun Yingsha remains the closest to Chen at 15,460 points, despite her early exit in Germany. Japan’s Mima Ito (14,720 points) remains at world no.3 as the only non-Chinese in the top five.
There is only one change in the women’s top five, Wang Manyu has swapped places with Chinese teammate Liu Shiwen at world no.4 and no.5 respectively.
In the same fashion there are no movements at all in the remaining top 10; Zhu Yuling and Ding Ning Ning, “Queen of Hearts” follow at no.6 and no.7 respectively.
Singapore’s Feng Tianwei remains at no.8, with Japan’s Kasumi Ishikawa staying at no.9. Chinese Taipei’s Cheng I-Ching recently broke into the top 10 and looks like will be staying there after making a mark in Germany last week, wrapping it up at world no.10.