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TTDraws · Ranking methodology v1

Ranking methodology

A player’s ranking total is the sum of their eight highest eligible tournament results from the previous 52 weeks. Players are ordered by total points, with the highest total ranked first.

Each ranking belongs to one club and one discipline. Only results from that club contribute to it. The same player can hold different ranks at different clubs.

1. Earning points

Each completed tournament awards one points result per player. The amount depends on the event category and the player’s finishing round. Use the single award for that finish; do not add the awards for earlier rounds.

TTDraws v1 points by event category and finish
CategoryWinnerFinalistSemi-finalistQuarter-finalistRound of 16
Club tournament10070452510
Regional tournament2501751106025
Championship50035022012050

For example, a club tournament finalist receives 70 points in total. A championship quarter-finalist receives 120 points. Both losing semi-finalists receive the same semi-finalist award.

The category is selected before results are processed. It determines the available points within the club’s ranking.

Eligible results

Knockout, competition and placement-competition events can contribute when completed and approved for ranking by the club, and when the player has an eligible finish. League events do not contribute to ranking. A placement competition gives each player one result from their final overall placement, even where its internal draws split after the first matches. Pending results do not contribute. A bye alone does not qualify as a played win, and a no-show receives no points. Retirements, walkovers and disqualifications require the event’s result rules to be applied before the award is confirmed.

2. Calculating the total

  1. Collect the player’s approved results for the club and discipline.
  2. Keep results whose ranking dates fall within the previous 52 weeks.
  3. Sort those results from highest to lowest points.
  4. Add the first eight. If there are fewer than eight, add all of them.

An active result is eligible and has not expired. A counted result is an active result selected for the best eight. Other active results can replace a counted result when it expires.

Example: nine active results

250 + 175 + 120 + 100 + 70 + 60 + 45 + 25 = 845 points

The ninth result is worth 10 points. It remains active but is outside the best eight, so it does not contribute to the 845-point total.

3. Updating the ranking

Rankings are published weekly. Each published list has an as-of date: the date used to decide which results are active. A result’s ranking date is the event completion date; it expires after 52 weeks, which is 364 days.

Expired results remain in the player’s history but contribute no points. Expiry can reduce the total even when the player has not played another event. A new result increases the total only if it enters the best eight.

Players with no active points are unranked in that club. A ranking held at another club does not supply a position here.

4. Resolving ties

When players have equal totals, apply the following comparisons in order. Stop at the first difference.

  1. Fewer active, non-zero results. The player with fewer results ranks higher. This comparison includes all active results, including those outside the best eight.
  2. Higher best result. Compare the highest points award in each player’s active results.
  3. Higher next-best result. If the best awards are equal, compare the second-best, then the third-best, and continue until they differ.
  4. Previous ranking position. If the results are still equal, retain their order from the previous published ranking for this club and discipline.
  5. Stored random order. If the earlier comparisons do not resolve the tie, draw an order once and retain it for that published list.

5. Seeding a draw

A seed is a player’s priority position among the entrants in a particular tournament. To assign seeds, take the club ranking for the chosen seeding date, keep only players entered in the event, and preserve their ranking order. The highest-ranked entrant is seed 1, the next is seed 2, and so on, up to the number of seeds used by the event.

Example: three seeded entrants from one club
EntrantClub rankEvent seed
Player A21
Player B52
Player C93

Here, the club’s top-ranked player has not entered. Player A therefore receives seed 1 despite holding club rank 2. Unranked entrants follow ranked entrants and are placed according to the event’s draw rules.

The draw format determines where seeds are placed. In a single-elimination draw, seeds 1 and 2 occupy opposite halves so they can meet only in the final if both advance. The ranking provides the seed order; the draw rules determine the bracket positions.

When the draw is published, its ranking date, entrant ranks and seeds are saved as a seeding snapshot. Later results, corrections or expiries do not automatically change that draw. An organiser must deliberately issue a revised draw to change its seeding.

References

This club ranking method is inspired by the ITTF/WTT ranking model. The event categories, points table and tie-break sequence above define the TTDraws ranking method.