Recently, the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) announced the latest world rankings. Although Ma Long, Fan Zhendong, and Chen Meng have withdrawn from the world rankings, which has had some impact on the national table tennis team (Guo Ping), Guo Ping is still the main theme in the top ten men's singles and women's singles world rankings. However, compared to previous world rankings, there are three fewer Guo Ping players in the top ten.
In the men's singles, Guo Ping players Wang Chuqin and Lin Shidong are ranked first and second, Liang Jingkun is ranked fifth, and Lin Gaoyuan is ranked ninth. Xiang Peng is ranked 22nd, and Zhou Qihao is ranked 36th. In the women's singles, Guo Ping players Sun Yingsha, Wang Manyu, Wang Yidi, and Chen Xintong occupy the top four spots, with Qian Tianyi ranked 11th, He Zhuojia ranked 35th, Fan Siqu ranked 36th, Chen Yi ranked 39th, Shi Xunyao ranked 40th, and Kuai Man ranked 44th.
Although the singles rankings of the Guo Ping men's and women's teams have not been significantly affected, careful fans have noticed that Guo Ping has lost its number one spot in women's doubles! According to the latest world rankings, the South Korean pair of Tian Zhixi/Shen Yubin has successfully topped the charts, firmly occupying the world's first place, while the Japanese pair of Daito Masaaki/Sakura Oshima temporarily ranks second, and the Chinese pair of Qian Tianyi/Chen Xintong ranks third in the world. Prior to this, the Guo Ping pair of Chen Meng/Wang Manyu had always been ranked first in women's doubles, but due to Chen Meng's withdrawal from the world rankings, their women's doubles world ranking naturally disappeared.
Although it is a pity that Guo Ping lost the first place in women's doubles, there is no need to worry too much, after all, world rankings cannot completely represent an athlete's overall strength! If the Guo Ping coaching staff is willing, it would be too easy to regain the first place in women's doubles. However, being the world's first in women's doubles means little to Guo Ping, after all, men's doubles and women's doubles events have never been the focus of Guo Ping's attention. Even if the South Korean pair of Tian Zhixi/Shen Yubin took the world's first place, it wouldn't matter. As we all know, men's doubles and women's doubles matches are not Olympic events; only singles, mixed doubles, and team events are.
For this reason, the Guo Ping coaching staff has always paid more attention to singles and mixed doubles events. As for team events, once the singles results improve, everything else will fall into place. However, to put it another way, after Fan Zhendong and Chen Meng announced their withdrawal from the world rankings, although the world rankings were not greatly affected, it still had some impact on preparations for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics, especially for the Guo Ping men's team. At present, the Guo Ping men's team is left with only Wang Chuqin to carry the load. Although Lin Shidong's performance was also quite good, showing particular strength in the months following the Paris Olympics, he still needs to participate in a large number of competitions to become a core player for Guo Ping.
