Wang Chen Regains World's Top Spot

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Friday, April 18, 2003

Wang Chen Regains World's Top Spot

Kenneth Jonassen closes the gap atthe top of the latest IBF world men's singles rankings released Thursday in London. China's Chen Hong remains at the top.

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Kenneth Jonassen closes the gap atthe top of the latest IBF world men's singles rankings released Thursday in London. China's Chen Hong remains at the top.

Whilst in the women's rankings, Wang Chen of Hong Kong overtook the number one singles spot of 2003.

With the ranking points from the results of the recent five-star tournaments in Japan and South Korea now registered, the top players who have qualified for the world championships in May, cannow begin to speculate whether they will be seeded in the most prestigious event of 2003.

Chen remains world number one in the men's singles, even thoughhis large margin has decreased to less than 150 points ahead of Korean Open winner Kenneth Jonassen. Chen can probably expect to be the number one seed in Birmingham, as he has held onto the top spot since the beginning of November 2002.

Park Tae Sang failed to qualify for the world championships, but took a giant leap up the rankings table after being a finalistin Korea. He moved from position 46 to 17 in just one week. FellowKorean Lee Hyun Il also climbed up the list, and is now placed at 12. Lee will be hoping to hold onto that spot over the next coupleof weeks to ensure that he will be seeded at the world championships.

Two Chinese stars have plummeted in the rankings in recent weeks. Bao Chunlai and Lin Dan were both in the top eight when theinitial list of world championship qualifiers was announced in February, but are now listed at 29 and 25 respectively. These two players will now possibly miss out on being seeded, and could poseas major threats to a higher ranked player. Wong Choong Hann and Taufik Hidayat hold onto their places within the top six.

Wang Chen from Hong Kong climbed up to the top of the women's singles rankings. Gong Ruina passed on the title onto compatriot Chinese Zhang Ning in March, but both players have slipped to 5 and 3 respectively this week. Wang Chen claims back the honor she held in December last year.

Two European based players will be expectant of high seedings at the world championships after good performances recently. Mia Audina and Camilla Martin, the two title winners at the Korea and Japan Opens secured valuable ranking points in winning the five-star events. Both players will probably be in the top five seeds in Birmingham.

South Korea's Ha Tae Kwon and Kim Dong Moon have extended theirlead in the men's doubles world ranking. With only two points separating them from Danish pair Jens Eriksen and Martin LundgaardHansen last week, their success in their home tournament enabled them to move 416 points clear. This will surely grant them the number one seed in the world championships.

Home favorites in Birmingham will be Nathan Robertson and Anthony Clark, currently world ranked at number 7. They will be hoping to be amongst the eight seeds in the men's doubles.

Chinese and Danish women fill the top four places in the women's doubles rankings, with few changes occurring in recent weeks. Ra Kyung Min's return to international competition has ensured herrise up the list. Having played fewer tournaments than those ranked above her, Ra and partner Lee Kyung Won still managed to jump seven places on last week's listings. Their timing could be perfect as their current placing of 8 should be enough to gain a seeded spot.

England's greatest chance of success at the world championshipsprobably lies in the mixed doubles event. For one week recently Nathan Robertson and Gail Emms were the world number ones, and canexpect to be highly seeded in front of the own supporters.

Many eyes are focusing on the return to the top ten of Kim DongMoon and Ra Kyung Min. Having only played four tournaments in the last twelve months their ranking has suffered, this therefore indicates that they are unlikely to be seeded at the world championships, but their presence in Birmingham will list them as favorites to many people.

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