China's Sun first to beat 10,000-point mark in ITTF world rankings

BEIJING - China's Sun Yingsha became the first paddler to exceed the 10,000-point mark as the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) released its latest world rankings on Tuesday.

Sun earned 2,000 points from her win at the World Table Tennis (WTT) China Smash which concluded on Sunday, improving her tally to a record-high 10,800 points.

The ITTF applied changes to its world ranking regulations in 2022, as the world ranking of a player is essentially composed of the sum of the points of the best eight results achieved in the last 12 months.

Fellow Chinese Wang Manyu rose to second following her runner-up finish at the WTT China Smash, surpassing her compatriot and Olympic champion Chen Meng. Another Chinese paddler, Wang Yidi, remain fourth.

The other top 10 female players are Hina Hayata of Japan, China's Chen Xingtong, Japanese teenager Miwa Harimoto, Shin Yu-bin of South Korea, Japan's Mima Ito, and Cheng I-Ching of Chinese Taipei.

On the men's side, 19-year-old China Smash champion Lin Shidong continued his rising trajectory due to his impressive performances since the Paris Olympics, climbing to a career-high third.

Lin has claimed three singles titles in a row in recent WTT tournaments, at the Contender Almaty, the Champions Macao and the China Smash.

China's Wang Chuqin remained the men's world No.

1, followed by his teammate Fan Zhendong. Veteran Ma Long, who advanced to the China Smash final, climbed two spots to fourth, and Liang Jingkun round out the top five for China.

Hugo Calderano of Brazil, French prodigy Felix Lebrun, China's Lin Gaoyuan, Japan's Tomokazu Harimoto and Truls Moregard of Sweden sit sixth to 10th.

Chinese pairs took up top positions in other categories, with Chen Meng and Wang Manyu leading the way in the women's doubles. Lin Gaoyuan and Lin Shidong sit top of the men's doubles, while Wang Chuqin and Sun Yingsha lead the mixed doubles.