ITTF Table Tennis World Ranking:
Iran’s Faraji up by 20 spots, sits seventh in U19 class
Iranian table tennis prodigy Benyamin Faraji enjoyed a 20-spot jump to stand 166th in the latest ITTF World Ranking – released on Tuesday.
The remarkable rise came after the Iranian wunderkind, a world under-15 bronze medalist last year, walked away with the runner-up trophy at the WTT Youth Contender event in Cappadocia, Turkey, earlier in the month – courtesy of a 3-2 defeat against the host’s Gorkem Ocal.
Faraji, 17, still dropped by one place to sit 15th in the under-19 age class of the World Youth Ranking, while retaining the seventh place in the under-17 category with 4700 points.
Meanwhile, Noshad Alamiyan remained the highest-ranked Iranian in the men’s standings, with a two-spot drop leaving him 55th.
Alamiyan had a disappointing run in last week’s ITTF-ATTU Asian Cup in Shenzhen, China, as defeats against Chinese world No. 2 Wang Chuqin and Yukiya Uda of Japan, either side of a victory over Qatari Ahmed Korani, saw the Iranian crash out in the group stage.
Navid Shams is the second best among the Iranian men, standing 160th in the ranking, while Alamiyan’s younger brother, Nima, stood in the 204th place.
Nima Alamiyan also suffered three defeats against opponents from China, Japan, and South Korea to finish bottom in the group in Shenzhen.