Liu Regains Top Spot on ITTF World Ranking After World Cup Victory

LIU Shiwen has regained the top spot on the ITTF World Rankings after her victories at the GAC Group 2015 ITTF World Tour Polish Open and ITTF Women’s World Cup in October.

LIU’s 4th success in 4 attempts at the Women’s World Cup has not only put her name on par alongside the legendary ZHANG Yining, but also helped put her back to the no. 1 spot in the world.

The 24 year-old Chinese shared “I’m happy to be back on the number spot. I certainly hope to maintain the current good form I am in now and continue working hard to achieve more!”

LIU has replaced her compatriot, 2015 World Champion DING Ning, who had overtaken her since October, to occupy the top position for a 23rd time. Dislodged from her no. 1 spot, DING now occupies the third spot on the ranking, which is her lowest position in four years, the last time she was third in the World was in September 2011.

Despite her quarterfinal defeat to Netherland’s LI Jiao at the Women’s World Cup, 20 year-old ZHU Yuling has reached her career’s highest, advancing to second in the world, with the help of her success in the doubles event at the Polish Open.

Other star players at the ITTF Women’s World Cup earlier last weekend in Sendai, Japan, also saw ascending of their world rankings in November. Surprise semifinalist after upsetting 2 top 10 players in a row, Germany’s Petrissa Solja saw meteoric climb from no. 26 to no. 14 to reach her career best. Meanwhile, Egypt’s Dina MESHREF climbed to no. 100 after becoming the first African player to ever qualify for the main draw of the Women’s World Cup.

Liu Shiwen regains top spot in the world after Women’s World Cup victory

Meanwhile, 2015 World Champion and Men’s World Cup Champion, MA Long continues to dominate the Men’s World Ranking for the 39th time in his career. 18 year old FAN Zhendong overtakes 2015 Mixed Double World Champion XU Xin to finish second in the world after claiming victory at the Polish Open, and taking the 2nd place on his Men’s World Cup debut in Halmstad.

Runner-up at the Polish Open, Austria’s Stefan FEGERL also saw a major jump from no. 42 to no.23 after surprising reigning Olympics Champion ZHANG Jike in the semifinals to prevent an all-Chinese Final.

Check out more on the November ITTF World Rankings on ITTF.com/ITTF_Ranking

ITTF Africa Senior Championships: Egypt’s Assar Vows To Stop Nigeria In Cairo

Egypt’s Omar Assar became Lagos fans’ favourite in 2013 when he clinched the Lagos Classics title ahead of Nigeria’s Segun Toriola but with the rise of Aruna Quadri globally, the Egyptian believes Nigeria cannot stop them from sweeping medals at the forthcoming International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) Africa Senior Championships holding in Cairo next week.

Although he predicted a tough challenge in Cairo, the 2011 All Africa Games gold medalist said he is optimistic that Egypt can hold sway at home.

Omar Assar

“I hope it will be a very tight competition between all teams and players and I wish Egypt will dominate all events. But we respect all our opponents and we will not play to the gallery,” he said.

The Mediterranean Games champion believes the presence of Aruna Quadri-inspired Nigeria as well as Congo Brazzaville and Tunisia would pose a major challenge to Egypt. “We will surely face tough challenge from top teams especially Nigeria, Congo Brazzaville and Tunisia and I believe this will add a special taste to the tournament.”

Assar, who is yet to play to his optimum in the last one year, believes he can re-enact his form in Cairo. “I am looking forward to perform my best at the tournament especially as it is holding in Cairo and I am sure this will impart positively on table tennis in Egypt with the quality of players expected at the seven-day tournament.”

Egypt’s Assar targets top prize

The 23-year-old Egyptian star is however, inspired by the feat achieved by Nigeria’s Quadri, describing it as a plus to the game in Africa. “Quadri is a good player and what he achieved in 2014 was something that will surely inspire a lot of us to aim to break his record in future,” he added.

Following the not-too-impressive performance by the North African at the just concluded ITTF World Team Cup, Assar said he had a good outing having beaten Austria’s Stefan Fegerl in one of the matches. “Nothing went wrong for us in Dubai because we had a good preparation before the competition and personally I am satisfied with my performance following the win against Austria’s Stefan Fegerl,” Assar added.