Beijing (China), Dec 31 The International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) released its latest world rankings on Tuesday, with Chinese Wang Chuqin and Sun Yingsha sitting at the top of men's and women's singles events, respectively. China's Wang Chuqin and Lin Shidong ranked top two in the men's singles, followed by Tomokazu Harimoto (Japan), Felix Lebrun (France), Liang Jingkun (China), Hugo Calderano (Brazil), Truls Moregard (Sweden), Lin Gaoyuan (China), Qiu Dang (Germany) and Patrick Franziska (Germany) in the top 10.
On the women's side, Chinese players Sun Yingsha, Wang Manyu, Wang Yidi and Chen Xingtong took up the top four places. Japan's Hina Hayata and Miwa Harimoto sat fifth and sixth, respectively, followed by Cheng I-Ching from Chinese Taipei, South Korea's Shin Yubin, and Japan's Mima Ito, reports Xinhua.
Following the release of the latest world rankings, the Chinese Table Tennis Association (CTTA) issued a statement confirming that Ma Long, Fan Zhendong, and Chen Meng have officially withdrawn from the rankings, announcing that all necessary procedures for their withdrawal have been completed.
"The association will continue to follow the development of three athletes and provide them with full support, whether they choose to return to the international stage or focus on domestic competitions," read the statement. "The CTTA has been actively engaging with the ITTF and World Table Tennis (WTT) to advocate for reasonable adjustments to competition rules."
"Ma Long, Fan Zhendong, and Chen Meng have brought great honour to the nation and made outstanding contributions to the sport worldwide. As the president of the CTTA, I am committed to supporting our athletes in protecting their rights and interests," said Liu Guoliang.
"I propose that the WTT consider granting 'participation exemptions' for veteran and decorated players while establishing a 'prize pool' to reward young athletes who actively compete," Liu added.
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