The table tennis world rankings are run by the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF), the sport's governing body. A player's total is the sum of their eight best results from the previous 12 months. Each result earns points according to how far the player went and how important the event was: winning one of the four Grand Smashes, the World Championships or the Olympics is worth 2,000 points. The list is updated every week, and the player with the most points is world No 1.
Points for results, not for beating people
Since 2018, ranking points have been awarded for the round a player reaches, rather than for who they beat. Before that, players gained points for wins and lost them for defeats, depending on the opponent's rating. Under the current system, a player who reaches the semi-finals of an event earns the same points as everyone else who gets that far, whoever they met on the way.
Players who come through qualifying rounds add the points from those rounds to what they earn in the main draw.
The best eight results
Only a player's eight highest-scoring results count, so a bad week does not drag the total down unless it replaces a good one. There is one limit: only one continental event, such as the European Championships, can be among the eight.
Points are valid for one year. When a result is 12 months old it drops off, and the player needs a new one to replace it. That is why defending a title matters: a player who won an event last year loses those points whether they play this year or not, and only by doing well again can they make them up.
What each event is worth
The points for the winner of each singles event are set by the ITTF's world ranking regulations:
Olympic Games, World Championships and WTT Grand Smash: 2,000. WTT Finals and World Cup: 1,500. WTT Champions: 1,000. WTT Star Contender: 600. Continental championships: 500. WTT Contender: 400. WTT Feeder: 125.
Players who lose earlier earn a share of the winner's total, and the share shrinks round by round. From the 2026 season the ITTF gave more points to players who reach the middle rounds, to reward those who go deep in events consistently. At a 2026 WTT Contender, for example, the winner gets 400 points, the losing finalist 280, the semi-finalists 180 and the quarter-finalists 120.
Our guide to the WTT events explains the difference between a Grand Smash, a Champions event and a Contender.
When the rankings change
The ITTF publishes a new list every week. From 2021 that happened on Tuesdays; from the start of 2026 the list comes out on Mondays. A big tournament can move players a long way in a week, because a single Grand Smash win can be worth more than four Contender titles.
On the list of 2 November 2026, Japan's Sora Matsushima was men's world No 1 with 8,230 points, ahead of France's Félix Lebrun. Matsushima, who is 19, took over from China's Wang Chuqin in October. Wang Manyu of China was women's No 1 with 9,265 points, ahead of her teammate Sun Yingsha. You can see the latest list on our rankings page.
Singles, doubles and juniors
There are separate world rankings for singles, men's and women's doubles, and mixed doubles, which rank pairs on their results together. Teams have their own world team ranking, published monthly.
Juniors have a separate youth ranking, introduced in 2021, with age groups from under-11 to under-19. Young players can also earn senior ranking points by playing senior events.
Why rankings matter
Rankings decide who gets into most professional tournaments. Places in the main draw of a WTT event go mainly to the highest-ranked players who enter, so a player usually climbs from Feeder to Contender to the bigger events as their points grow. Rankings also decide seeding, which keeps the strongest players apart in the early rounds.
They count towards the Olympics too. For Los Angeles 2028, some singles and doubles places will go to the highest-ranked players who have not already qualified, using the world rankings published in March and June 2028.
Rankings are not the only route in. Most events also have places for qualifiers, players nominated by the organisers and wildcards chosen by the host.
Missing events and injuries
Until February 2025, the leading players had to enter every Grand Smash. World Table Tennis (WTT), which runs the professional circuit, dropped that rule, and players can now also skip two WTT Champions events a year. Skipping still has a cost: a player who misses events has fewer chances to add results to their best eight.
Players who are out injured for a long period can apply for ranking protection, which helps them get back into events on their return.
Your next steps
Check the latest world rankings, find out who runs the sport in our guide to the ITTF and WTT, and read how the biggest event of all works in our guide to the World Championships.