China's Wang rises to men's top position in table tennis world rankings

BEIJING, March 19 (Xinhua) -- China's Wang Chuqin climbed to men's singles world No. 1 as the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) released its latest world rankings on Tuesday.

After taking home 2,000 points from his triumph at the World Table Tennis (WTT) Singapore Smash, Wang leapfrogged his compatriot Fan Zhendong to the top spot, while WTT Singapore Smash finalist Liang Jingkun rose to third, followed by his teammate Ma Long, with another Chinese paddler Lin Gaoyuan sitting seventh.

Other men's world Top 10 players are French teenager Felix Lebrun, Lin Yun-ju of Chinese Taipei, Hugo Calderano of Brazil, Japan's Tomokazu Harimoto and German penholder Qiu Dang.

Wang also took up top positions in other two categories, with Fan in the men's doubles, and Sun Yingsha in the mixed doubles.

Sun continued to sit atop the women's singles rankings, while WTT Singapore Smash winner Wang Manyu escalated to second, followed by her compatriots Wang Yidi, Chen Meng and Chen Xingtong in Top 5.

Japan's Hina Hayata and Mima Ito were placed sixth and eighth respectively, with Shin Yu-bin of South Korea in seventh place, Romania's Bernadette Szocs ninth, and Adriana Diaz of Puerto Rico rounding out Top 10.

Crowned at the WTT Singapore Smash, Chen Meng and Wang Manyu rose to second in the women's doubles, after South Korean duo Jeon Ji-hee and Shin Yu-bin.