1998 
YEAR 
2000
After winning his first World Championships singles title, the 23-year-old Chinese star Liu Guoliang clinched the World Ranking leader position in 1999. His teammate Ma Lin finished the year at the second position, and the Austrian international – Werner Schlager was third, winning the bronze at the World Championships, also adding a silver medal of the World Cup tournament to his resume.
TOP 30 PLAYERS IN THE WORLD RANKING
#
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
Player
Liu Guoliang
Ma Lin
Werner Schlager
Jan-Ove Waldner
Jörgen Persson
Kim Taek-soo
Zoran Primorac
Kong Linghui
Vladimir Samsonov
Jean-Philippe Gatien
Christophe Legout
Damien Eloi
Yan Sen
Jean-Michel Saive
Peter Karlsson
Lucjan Blaszczyk
Matthew Syed
Carl Prean
Seiko Iseki
He Zhi Wen
Chuang Chih-Yuan
Timo Boll
Liu Guozheng
Johnny Huang
Danny Heister
Liu Song
Kalinikos Kreanga
Wang Liqin
Isaak Abramov
Leung Chu-yan
N
WC
1/4
1/4
1/4
1/4
R16
R16
R16
R16
R16
R16
R16
R16
R32
R32
R32
R32
R32
R32
R32
R32
R32
R32
R32
R32
R32
R32
WCU
1/4
x
1/4
4th
GS
GS
x
x
x
x
1/4
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
GS
x
GS
x
GS
x
x
E12
x
x
x
GS
GS
x
GS
x
GS
x
GS
GS
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
PRO TOUR
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
Description
N – Nationality WC – World Championships WCU – World Cup E12 – Europe Top 12 & other flags – Pro Tour events
Table Tennis Media 