However, one week later (week 20), immediately after the conclusion of the inaugural WTT Youth Contender tournament in Vila Real, staged from Tuesday 11th to Monday 17th May, there will change with points counting for both the World and the Youth rankings on offer.

Likewise, on Tuesday 25th May (week 21) there will be changes as a result of the Central American Championships held in San José, Costa Rica from Friday 14th to Wednesday 19^th May.

The 2021 ITTF Table Tennis World Ranking is calculated by adding the best eight results of each player to the points which were transferred from the 2020 December ITTF World Ranking. The points were reduced to 80 percent earlier this year in January with the aim of a 10 percent reduction being made every six weeks.

There have been two reductions to date with players currently maintaining 60 percent of their 2020 December points; the loss of points being replaced according to performances in events held in 2021 and beyond.

However, the continuation of the Covid-19 pandemic and the tournament schedule being greatly affected, has meant a necessary re-think.

On Friday 7th May, the ITTF Executive Committee decided by electronic voting to follow the proposal of the World Ranking Working Group of freezing the period points reduction on the ITTF Table Tennis World Ranking. The current value of the initial points will stay at 60 percent; this will be the situation until Tuesday 3rd August (week 31) at the earliest.