Ma Long Finishes End of Year World #1 for Record 5th Time

ITTF Press Release: Ma Long Finishes End of Year World #1 for Record 5th Time

Can't see? View online version

Rajarshi Chakrabarty | ITTF PRESS RELEASE 01/05/2017 Ma Long Finishes End of Year World #1 for Record 5th Time Ma Long & Ding Ning are the 2016 end of year world #1's MA Long (CHN) has capped a year to remember by becoming the year end world number one for a fifth time, which equals his compatriot WANG Liqin's (CHN) record. The 28-year-old who finished 2016 as world number one also earned his 53rd month as world number one, just two months' shy of WANG Liqin's remarkable 55 months as the king of table tennis. This is an extraordinary run as the Rio 2016 Olympic champion is now top of the world for a consecutive 23 months, two months away from the 25 months record set by WANG. "2016 has been a very memorable and rewarding year for me, so I'm thankful to all who have helped me this year, and to myself. Thanks also to everyone in the table tennis family who has worked hard to contribute to the sport. I will continue to work hard in the new year" stated the best table tennis player on earth. 2016 Men's World Cup champion 19-year-old FAN Zhendong (CHN) finished the year second in the rankings, ahead of his team mates XU Xin and ZHANG Jike, who are third and fourth respectively. Rio 2016 bronze medalist Jun MIZUTANI (JPN) finished the year in the fifth position, with Dimitrij OVTCHAROV (GER) trailing closely behind. Fellow Olympic Champion DING Ning (CHN) topped the women's end of year ranking for a fourth time, just one year short from the women's record by her idol ZHANG Yining. DING, who had another dominant year, finished ahead of team mates LIU Shiwen and ZHU Yuling, as well as Japan's Kasumi ISHIKAWA and Singapore's FENG Tianwei. 16-year-old Japanese sensations Mima ITO & Women's World Cup Champion Miu HIRANO who claimed the team title at the 2016 World Junior Championships, capped off a dream year by finishing the year at eight and nine respectively to show that the new generation is now here.

Injured Zhang Jike Withdraws from ITTF World Tour Grand Finals

Chinese superstar ZHANG Jike has withdrawn from the Seamaster Qatar 2016 ITTF World Tour Grand Finals with an ankle injury.

The injury is the same one that forced the world number four to pull out from the recent Austrian and Swedish ITTF World Tour events last month.

The news has left the London 2012 Olympic Champion's 7.6 million weibo fans devastated, as they were looking forward to seeing their hero in action for the first time since September's China Open.

The reports coming out of China state that the injury occurredwhen the double World Champion was filming for a reality show where he was eventually chased after by his fans who couldn't contain their excitement upon seeing him. This caused ZHANG to sprain his ankle and was not able to recoverin time for the ITTF World Tour Grand Finals.

The injury means that the Rio 2016 Olympic Games silver medalist will have to wait another 12 months for the chance to win the ITTF World Tour Grand Finals title, the one major table tennis title eluding him in his decorated career.

Japan's Koki NIWA is the the lucky player who now takes ZHANG Jike's place at the Seamaster Qatar 2016 ITTF World Tour Grand Finals which will take place 8-11 December in Doha, Qatar.

Olufunke OSHONAIKE (NGR) has become the Women's African champion an amazing 24 years after she first won the title.

The 41-year-old Nigerian veteran first won the African title in 1992 and her last triumph came in 2002 before her triumph on Sunday 30 October 2016 at the ITTF-Africa Championships in Agadir, Morocco.

OSHONAIKE faced younger opponent Dina MESHREF (EGY) who has dominated African table tennis in the previous years in the Women's Singles final. It was OSHONAIKE who made the better start, moving ahead 2-0, before MESHREF responded to bring the score level to 2-2. However, age proved to be just a number as OSHONAIKE won game five and six to clinch the title 11-7, 13-11, 5-11, 9-11, 11-7, 11-7.

After winning the emotional title, OSHONAIKE stated: "This victory means a lot to me that I can still become African champion despite my age. It shows that nothing is impossible if you put your mind to it. I feel great and I am so excited that I can still do it and this is also an inspiration for girls that no matter your age, you can achieve whatever you want to in life."

In the Men's Singles, Omar ASSAR (EGY) won the African title for the second time in a row.

The Men's Singles finals matchup between Omar ASSAR (EGY) and Quadri ARUNA (NGR) was also one that many were looking forward to due to ARUNA's historic run to the Rio 2016 Olympic Games quarterfinal.

The match did not disappoint, with the African superstars producing a seven games epic thriller, where ASSAR was able to hold his nerve to win 10-12, 11-6, 11-9, 8-11, 12-10, 6-11, 11-9.

After claiming his second consecutive title, ASSAR stated: "It was really a crazy match because against Quadri, it is always very exciting. I gave my 100 percent concentration and I was listening more to my coach, AshrafHELMY. I think ARUNA played very well because he was always changing service and he was more aggressive on his forehand. I am so happy retaining the title and I hope I can play better than this in future tournaments."

ARUNA did not go home empty-handed, teaming up with Nigerian teammate Segun TORIOLA (NGR) to defeat the Egyptian pair Lashin EL-SAYED and Ahmed ALI SALEH (EGY) to clinch the Men's Doubles title.

Egypt dominated the Women's Doubles and Mixed Doubles events with Dina MESHREF partnering her cousin Yousra HELMY to win the Women's Doubles title, and also winning the Mixed Doubles event with Omar ASSAR.

Egypt completed a memorable African Championships by claiming both the Men's & Women's Team titles to add to their success in the individual events.

All attention now turned to the 2016 ITTF World Tour Hybiome Austrian Open, to be held on 9-13 November 2016 in Linz, Austria.

Revised TTFI calendar for 2016 from September to January 2017

Award Ceremony of Asian Championships, Bangkok

Six cities that have won the right to host a 2017 ITTF World Tour Platinum events along with regular ITTF World Tour events

ITTF Announces 12 Host Cities for New & Improved 2017 World Tour

The International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) is excited to announce the 12 cities that will host the new and improved 2017 ITTF World Tour events.

The revamped ITTF World Tour will have a new logo, new branding and a new structure to better promote table tennis globally.

On the announcement, ITTF Marketing Director Steve DAINTON stated: "In 2016, we have worked hard to look at ways to push the World Tour product forward, with new partners and new conditions, the desire to host events has dramatically increased and we are so pleased to see conditions such as prize money increasing as well. We will now push forward to ensure events can grow both in terms of popularity and commercially so that over time we can showcase international table tennis more regularly throughout the year."

The 2017 World Tour will be split into two tiers, six ITTF World Tour Platinum events, which is the new top tier of the World Tour, and six regular ITTF World Tour events.

There was an unprecedented amount of bids to be a part of the new ITTF World Tour, with the result being a higher prize money pool for all players.

The six ITTF World Tour Platinum events will have higher prize money, and be of a higher level organisation, which will ensure the attendance of the world's best players, resulting in more international exposure for the hosts.

The six cities that have won the right to host a 2017 ITTF World Tour Platinum event are:

• Doha, Qatar: 23-26 February 2017
• Tokyo, Japan: 16-18 June 2017
• Chengdu, China: 22-25 June 2017
• Gold Coast, Australia: 29 June - 2 July 2017
• Linz, Austria: 1- 3 September 2017
• Magdeburg, Germany 10-12 November 2017

The regular ITTF World Tour events are:

• Budapest, Hungary: 19-22 January 2017
• New Delhi, India: 16-19 February 2017
• Incheon, Korea: 20-23 April 2017
• Olomouc, Czech Republic: 24-27 August 2017
• Panagyurishte, Bulgaria: 7-10 September 2017
• Stockholm, Sweden: 16-19 November 2017

Australia & Austria move up to the top World Tour tier for the first time, after successfully hosting regular lower-tiered World Tour events. India joins the ITTF World Tour for the first time, with New Delhi hosting the breakthrough event in February next year.

The 12 events all offer World Tour Standings points, which will be used to determine the top 16 players that qualify for the World Tour Grand Finals, to be held from 14-17 December 2017 in a location to be determined.

Bidding for the 2018 ITTF World Tour will open in November.