Por CBTM
China's HAO Shuai and America's GAO Jun are the two players to make the most progress in the top echelons of the Men's and Women's World Ranking lists issued by the International Table Tennis Federation on Wednesday 1st February 2006.
Both players climb four places. HAO Shuai moves from no.14 to no.10 whilst GAO Jun progresses from no.11 to no.7.
The move up the respective World Ranking lists is as a result of their performances at the Liebherr Slovenian Open and Liebherr Croatian tournaments in January 2006.
Disappointment
At the Liebherr Slovenian Open, there was disappointment for HAO Shuai, he lost in the opening round to Poland's Dániel GORAK who, largely as a result of that success, has progressed from no.136 to no.104 on the Men's World Ranking list. However, one week later in Croatia HAO Shuai enjoyed a more successful tournament. He reached the quarter-finals of the Men's Singles event, eventually losing to the tournament winner, Vladimir SAMSONOV but he did beat Kalinikos KREANGA of Greece, ranked no.11 at the time, a place the Greek has maintained on the February ranking lists.
Progress for HAO Shuai and also for two of his Chinese team colleagues; the most dramatic is the appearance of nineteen year old LEI Zhenhua at no.42 whilst LI Ping climbs one hundred places from no.169 to no.69.
Quarter-Finalist
LEI Zhenhua in his first ever international tournament, the Liebherr Croatian Open, was the man to raise the eyebrows with his opening round victory over Belgium's Jean-Michel SAIVE, ranked no.7 in the world at the time, the most notable success. LEI Zhenhua eventually reached the quarter-finals with wins over Denmark's Allan BENTSEN and Japan's Kaii YOSHIDA before losing to WANG Hao.
A quite dramatic inauguration into the international arena but not so dramatic for LI Ping; nevertheless a series of very creditable performances has facilitated his rise up the Men's World Ranking list. At the Liebherr Slovenian Open he beat Russia's Maksim SHMYRYEV and Greece's Panagiotis GIONIS before losing to China's WANG Hao, whilst in Croatia he overcame Croatia's TAN Ruiwu before Russia's Alexei SMIRNOV put an end to further advances in the draw.
Slovakian Success
Higher places for two young Chinese players and also for a European, Slovakia's Peter SEREDA; he progresses from no.92 to no.76. The major reason for the progress is undoubtedly due to his efforts at the Liebherr Slovenian Open where he reached the semi-finals of the Men's Singles event. It was his best ever performance on the ITTF Pro Tour beating France's Armand PHUNG, Portugal's Tiago APOLÓNIA, the Czech Republic's Richard VYBORNY and Singapore's YANG Zi.
Experience
Meanwhile, in the Women's World Ranking list, the vast experience of GAO Jun told in both the Liebherr Slovenian Open and the Liebherr Croatian Open. In the former she reached the third round, losing to LI Nan of China but the following week in Croatia she reversed the verdict beating the Chinese star in the quarter-finals, having one round earlier ousted the latter's compatriot, CHEN Qing.
GAO Jun eventually lost the GUO Yue, the player who won the Women's Singles title at both the Liebherr Slovenian Open and Liebherr Croatian Open.
Chinese Progress
Defeats for LI Nan and CHEN Qing at the hands of GAO Jun in Croatia but both Chinese players have high World Rankings on the February 2006 list.
LI Nan, absent from international competition for almost sixteen months, re-enters at no.25 whilst CHEN Qing progresses from no.95 to no.37. Both penhold grip players, LI Nan reached the quarter-finals of the Women's Singles event at the Liebherr Slovenian Open whilst CHEN Qing reached the final with her victory over Singapore's LI Jia Wei, at the time ranked no.3 in the World, her most noteworthy scalp.
European Champions League
Notable moves up the Women's World Ranking list and also there is notable progress for Germany's YAN Su and China's RONG Qi; the former moves from no.112 to no.47 whilst the latter advances from no.118 to no.48.
Neither player has been on duty on the ITTF Pro Tour but both have enjoyed consistently good results in the European Champions League where YAN Su represents the German club FSV Kroppach and RONG Qi plays for the Italian club Sterligarda Castelgoffredo.
No Changes for the Men
The leading places in the Men's World Ranking list remain the same. China's WANG Liqin is at number one followed by Germany's Timo BOLL and Vladimir SAMSONOV of Belarus with the Chinese duo of WANG Hao and MA Lin at no.4 and no.5 respectively and Korea's OH Sang Eun no.6.
However, in the Women's World Ranking list there are changes in the top six positions. ZHANG Yining, GUO Yue and GUO Yan, all of China, are ranked in the top three places but Singapore's LI Jia Wei drops from equal third to fourth, whilst Korea's KIM Kyung Ah and Hong Kong's TIE Yana change places. KIM Kyung Ah is now at no.5 whilst TIE Yana is ranked no.6.
Meanwhile, in both Under 21 and Under 18 World Ranking lists the same players occupies the top spot. China's MA Long is ranked no.1 in the Under 21 Men's and Under 18 Boys' Rankings whilst colleague GUO Yue is no.1 in the Under 21 Women's and Under 18 Girls' lists.
