Translation of the article content into English:
On December 31st at 16:05 Beijing time, the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) released the world rankings for the 53rd week of 2024, which also marked the last issue of the year. Notably absent from this latest ranking list were two prominent Chinese table tennis players, Fan Zhendong and Chen Meng, as well as Olympic six-time gold medalist Ma Long, who have all been officially removed.
Fan Zhendong and Chen Meng recently announced their withdrawal from the world ranking system due to dissatisfaction with WTT's non-participation penalty rules. WTT responded by expressing regret and disappointment over their decision but tacitly acknowledged that the "two recent Olympic singles champions leaving the world ranking system" had become a reality.
Today marks the last day of 2024 and the final release date for the ITTF world rankings this year. According to tradition, WTT and ITTF should announce the latest world rankings at 8 am. However, the latest world rankings were only released at 4:05 pm, indicating that many efforts made during the eight-hour delay ultimately bore no fruit, and everything is moving forward irreversibly.
Indeed, on the newly released world ranking list, both Fan Zhendong and Chen Meng's names, points, and rankings have been removed. Ma Long, who had not previously publicly declared his exit, has also disappeared from this issue's world rankings. It is unclear whether his departure was voluntary or enforced.
Fan Zhendong's last world ranking stands at 6th in the world in the 52nd week of 2024. Chen Meng's last world ranking is recorded as 4th in the world in the 52nd week of 2024. Ma Long's last world ranking is frozen at 8th in the world in the 52nd week of 2024.
In the men's singles world rankings, Wang Chuqin continues to lead with points at the top, followed closely by Lin Shidong and Zhang Ben Zhihe. Notably, Lin Shidong's points have further closed the gap with Wang Chuqin, theoretically reaching a point where he could surpass him through a grand slam event.
The top ten men's singles rankings are as follows: 1. Wang Chuqin, 2. Lin Shidong, 3. Zhang Ben Zhihe, 4. Felix Lebrun, 5. Liang Jingkun, 6. Hugo, 7. Moregad, 8. Lin Gaoyuan, 9. Qiu Dang, 10. Franziska.
Other key Chinese male players' ranking situations: Xiang Peng is ranked 22nd (5th within the national team), Zhou Qihao is ranked 36th (6th within the national team), Wen Ruibo is ranked 52nd (7th within the national team), Xue Fei is ranked 53rd (8th within the national team), Chen Yuanyu is ranked 55th (9th within the national team), and Zeng Beihun is ranked 69th (10th within the national team).
In women's singles, Sun Yingsha maintains her position at the top with points. After winning the women's singles title at the WTT China Grand Slam in October 2024, Sun Yingsha became the first athlete in history to score over 10,000 points in the world ranking system in week 41. She remained in this "myriad-point realm" for a total of 11 weeks before dropping below 10,000 points last week, returning to the "human order."
Wang Manyu, Wang Yidi, and Chen Xintong are ranked 2nd, 3rd, and 4th respectively, with Chen Xintong achieving a new personal high in the world rankings.
The top ten women's singles rankings are as follows: 1. Sun Yingsha, 2. Wang Manyu, 3. Wang Yidi, 4. Chen Xintong, 5. Hina Hayata, 6. Zhang Ben Meihuo, 7. Mima Ito, 8. Cheng I-Ching, 9. Shin Yu-bin, 10. Mima Ito.
Chen Meng's withdrawal has allowed Japanese players to occupy four spots in the top ten, almost forming an equal footing with the Chinese team.
Other key Chinese female players' world ranking situations: Qian Tianyi is ranked 11th (5th within the national team), He Zhuojia is ranked 35th (6th within the national team), Fan Siqu is ranked 36th (7th within the national team), Chen Yi is ranked 39th (8th within the national team), Shi Xunyao is ranked 40th (9th within the national team), and Kuai Man is ranked 44th (10th within the national team).
Kuai Man, who is planned to be cultivated as a successor in the new cycle of the national team, has a low world ranking. Despite the national team coaching staff's efforts to promote her by constantly providing her with resources for lower-level events to gain points, it still seems distant for Kuai Man to enter the WTT high-level events, that is, to join the national team's "Golden Flowers Group."