Other Events | 5 Sep 2018
Liam PITCHFORD climbs 17 places in ITTF rankings
Photo: Courtesy ITTF
2018 September ITTF ranking list released
England`s Liam PITCHFORD has climbed 17 places in the latest ITTF rankings, from No. 48 to No. 31, to get his career-best ranking. The 25-year-old caused the biggest upset of the year in the opening round of the Men’s Singles Event at the recent Seamaster 2018 ITTF World Tour Asarel Bulgaria Open in Panagyurishte. He managed to beat in full seven games current World and Olympic champion MA Long.
Former World Championships runner-up Vladimir SAMSONOV from Belarus moved up 24 spots, taking No. 30. Other ITTF rankings big movers are Sweden`s Mattias FALCK (No. 29 to 20), Daniel HABESOHN (No. 53 to 41)
Patrick FRANZISKA also recorded his career best position, No. 16, jumping one place up. His compatriot, best ranked European player, Timo BOLL fell one spot to be actual No. 4, while another German Dimitrij OVTCHAROV continues as No. 5. Two leading players from China have confirmed their positions, FAN Zhendong (No. 1) and XU Xin (No. 2), while their compatriot LIN Gaoyuan climbed one spot up.
Regarding Women`s ITTF rankings, Romania`s Bernadette SZOCS occupies her career-best spot, No. 26, jumping six places up. Austria`s Sofia POLCANOVA stays at No. 17, as best ranked Old Continent`s player. First five positions are unchanged: 1 ZHU Yuling (China), 2 LIU Shiwen (China), 3 CHEN Meng (China), 4 Kasumi ISHIKAWA (Japan), 5 WANG Manyu (China).
