Por CBTM
"My aim is to gain a place in the top five of the Women's World Ranking list", explained Hong Kong's Tie Yana before play started at the Volkswagen Pro Tour Grand Finals in
In order to achieve that goal she needed to perform well in both
She did, the Women's World Ranking list due to be published on Tuesday 3rd January 2006 sees
It is mission accomplished.
Consistency is the hallmark of TIE Yana's play; she's not a powerful player but top spinning from both backhand and forehand, she is one of the most consistent players in the world and it is the consistency of her performances that has seen her move from number eight on the Women's World Ranking list in December 2005 to number five in January 2006.
At both the Volkswagen Pro Tour Grand Finals and the Heng Da Women's World, she reached the semi-final stage.
In
Meanwhile, in
The no. 5 ranked position is the highest of TIE
Meanwhile, the young lady who TIE Yana had to play to determine third place in the Heng Da Women's World Cup, Japan's seventeen year old Ai FUKUHARA, is the player to make the most noticeable strides in the higher echelons of the January 2006 Women's World Ranking list. She beat TIE
Ai FUKUHARA moves from no. 25 to no. 16; like TIE
Ranked number one on the Women's list is ZHANG Yining who holds every major Women's Singles title there is to hold and throughout 2005 was ranked number one in the world, as was WANG Liqin on the Men's Ranking list. However, there is a difference: ZHANG Yining has extended her lead over her nearest rivals, whilst for WANG Liqin the gap is closing.
In January 2005 ZHANG Yining was an impressive 196 points ahead of her nearest rival, WANG Nan; in January 2006 she is 304 points ahead of her nearest rival, GUO Yue. Meanwhile for WANG Liqin, twelve months ago he had just regained the number one spot from his colleague, WANG Hao; the gap between the two players was only 46 points but when the World Ranking list was produced in May 2005, after the Volkswagen 48th World Championships, he was 110 points ahead of his nearest rival MA Lin; 261 points ahead of WANG Hao in third place and 266 points ahead of Timo BOLL in fourth place.
However, in the latter part of 2005 the man in form has been Timo Boll and the German, ranked no.2, is closing the gap on the World champion; WANG Liqin is now only 55 points ahead of BOLL, the man who won the Liebherr World Cup and the Men's Singles event at Volkswagen Pro Tour Grand Finals.
Progress for Timo Boll and also for Jean-Michel Saive; the Belgian star first entered the World Ranking list in July 1986 at no. 91; in February 1994 he rose to no.
In January 2006, the Men's World Ranking list sees him at no.7; a top ten place almost twenty years after his name first appeared on the World Rankings; a quite remarkable performance from a quite remarkable player.
Leading Places: Men (January 2006)
1.WANG Liqin (CHN)
Leading Places: Women (January 2006)
1. ZHANG Yining (CHN)
Source: www.ittf.com
