Chinese paddlers rank top four in singles events of ITTF world rankings

Beijing: Chinese paddlers continued to claim the top four positions in the men’s and women’s singles events of the latest International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) world rankings released on Tuesday. China’s Wang Chuqin, Lin Shidong, Fan Zhendong and Liang Jingkun ranked first to fourth in the men’s singles, followed by Felix Lebrun (France), Hugo Calderano (Brazil), Ma Long (China), Tomokazu Harimoto (Japan), Lin Gaoyuan (China) and Patrick Franziska (Germany) in the top 10. China’s 17-year-old Wen Ruibo, who finished runner-up at the World Table Tennis (WTT) Contender Muscat last weekend, climbed by 42 places to a career-high No. 54, reports Xinhua. On the women’s side, Chinese players Sun Yingsha, Wang Manyu, Chen Meng and Wang Yidi took up the top four places. Japan’s Hina Hayata and Miwa Harimoto sat fifth and sixth respectively. China’s Chen Xingtong, Cheng I-Ching from Chinese Taipei, and Japan’s Mima Ito and Satsuki Odo rounded out the top 10, marking the first time that 20-year-old Odo has broken into the world’s top 10 in her career. With her title at the WTT Contender Muscat, China’s Kuai Man rose by 44 places to 36th, while runner-up Qian Tianyi of China ranked 12th, two places higher compared to the previous edition. –IANS