TTNZ Ranking System Overview

TTNZ has adopted a new ranking system designed with the future in mind. This system is modelled after the highly successful ITTF ranking system. 

Overview:
Players earn points by progressing through tournaments, which scale up in value from Association closed tournaments to regional tournaments to National Tournaments. TTNZ has approximately 50 tournaments on the 2025 calendar. The top seven results from the prior 12 months will go towards each player's current ranking and will therefore expire on a 12-month rolling basis.  The system is easy to follow, as points are like building blocks rather than a complex calculation. Players will battle for points to climb the Men’s or Women’s Ranking lists, with Merit lists (top ten) for age categories being released periodically. In addition, TTNZ aims to launch a Para ranking list in 2025 for the first time. TTNZ are testing the Ranking system with International results in beta during 2025 after which time a proposal will go to the Board regarding releasing an upgraded version of the Ranking system to include international results. More information on this will be released later in 2025.

Rationale for the new Ranking system:

  • A system to encourage and promote greater player participation.
  • Players are rewarded based on participation and results.
  • Participation and results take precedence over history of the player.
  • Rolling 12-months of performance.
  • No loss of points for defeats.
  • Simplified system. Easier for players to know how many points they will receive, based on their placing in a tournament.

TTNZ Ranking System Regulations

General statement:

TTNZ has adopted a new ranking system designed with the future in mind. This system is modelled after the highly successful ITTF ranking system. More information regarding the new system can be found in this document.

Overview:

Players will earn points by progressing through tournaments, which scale up in value from Association closed tournaments to regional tournaments to National Tournaments. TTNZ has approximately 50 tournaments on the 2025 calendar. The top seven results from the prior 12 months will go towards each player's current ranking and will therefore expire on a 12-month rolling basis.

The system will be easier to follow, as points are like building blocks rather than a complex calculation. Players will battle for points to climb the Men’s or Women’s Ranking lists, with Merit lists (top ten) for age categories being released periodically. In addition, TTNZ aims to launch a Para ranking list in 2025 for the first time.

Rationale for the new system:
  • A system to encourage and promote greater player
  • Players are rewarded based on participation and
  • Participation and results take precedence over history of the
  • Rolling 12-months of
  • No loss of points for
  • Simplified Easier for players to know how many points they will receive, based on their placing in a tournament.

 

TABLE OF CONTENTS
  1. BASIC PRINCIPLES 
  2. MERIT LISTS 
  3. TOURNAMENTS 
  4. POINTS 
  5. INCIDENTS AND PENALTIES 
  6. CONTACT AND REGULATION 
 
1. BASIC PRINCIPLES

1.1 The TTNZ Ranking lists are the official source for seedings and draws at sanctioned table tennis tournaments in New Zealand.

1.2The TTNZ Men’s and Women’s ranking lists are comprised from the results of the following events:

Men's Singles Events Women's Singles Events
  • Men’s Open Singles
  • Men’s Graded (B, C, D) Singles
  • Under 19 Boys’ Singles
  • Under 15 Boys’ Singles
  • Under 13 Boys’ Singles
  • Over 30 Men’s Singles
  • Over 40 Men’s Singles
  • Over 50 Men’s Singles
  • Over 60 Men’s Singles
  • Over 65 Men’s Singles
  • Over 70 Men’s Singles
  • Over 75 Men’s Singles
  • Over 80 Men’s Singles
  • Women’s Open Singles
  • Women’s Graded (B, C, D) Singles
  • Under 19 Girls’ Singles
  • Under 15 Girls’ Singles
  • Under 13 Girls’ Singles
  • Over 30 Women’s Singles
  • Over 40 Women’s Singles
  • Over 50 Women’s Singles
  • Over 60 Women’s Singles
  • Over 65 Women’s Singles
  • Over 70 Women’s Singles
  • Over 75 Women’s Singles
  • Over 80 Women’s Singles

1.3 Any events outside those listed in section 1.2 will NOT be allocated ranking points under the ranking system; this includes events such as (but is not limited to) ‘novice’ events, under 11/17/21, ‘twenties’, over 35/45/55.

  • Events outside those listed in 2 can be held at an Association Open and seeded at the discretion of the host but the host Association must explicitly state on the entry conditions that the event(s) WILL NOT receive TTNZ ranking points.

1.4 The TTNZ Para ranking list is comprised from the results of the following events:

  • Class Singles
  • Open Class Singles

1.5 Ranking lists will be published regularly throughout the year, with tentative 2025 publication dates as follows:

February 3rd  July 3rd

March 3rd  August 4th

April 7th  September 1st

May 5th   October 6th

1.6 Ranking points are awarded at TTNZ sanctioned tournaments only. If an alternate source(s) to the TTNZ ranking lists are used for the seeding and draws of eligible events, those participating WILL NOT be awarded ranking points.

  • As per in 1.3, if an Association chooses to host events outside those listed in 2 they may do so and seed these events at their discretion, but the host Association must explicitly state on the entry conditions that the event(s) WILL NOT receive TTNZ ranking points.

1.7 Awarded points will be valid for one year, except:

  • In the case of points earned at the New Zealand Open Championships, North Island Open Championships and South Island Open Championships, these will expire when the following year’s championships have taken This is to prevent players retaining points from two major events across consecutive years simultaneously.

1.8 The TTNZ Ranking lists at the time of the Tournament closing date will be used for seedings.

1.9 Seedings and/or a relative ranking for international Association players will be at the discretion of TTNZ for all National Tournaments.

1.10 TTNZ may consult TTNZ Selectors for a relative ranking and/or seeding for any New Zealand National player who has played fewer than three (3) tournaments in NZ in the prior 12 months, subject to them having represented NZ in the last two (2) years, and to them having been training and competing overseas for more than 80% of the 12 months prior to the National Tournament.

1.11 The ranking of a player is comprised of the sum of the points of their seven ‘active results’ with the greatest number of points (these are called ‘ranking slots’).

1.12 Points earned can come from age events, as well as one Open or Graded result per tournament.

  • For example, a player winning B Grade earns more points than making the Open round of The greater of the two results goes towards that player’s ‘active results’.

1.13 A player who competes in multiple age events at a single tournament can obtain ranking points from all eligible age events (as per section 2).

  • For example, a player’s results from U13, U15 and Open may all contribute to their ‘active results’ in the Rankings list.
  • Where age categories or grades events are merged due to insufficient entries, the greater points allocation will be awarded. For example, an Over 50/60 merged event will earn points as per an Over 50 event (refer sections 4.6.1 & 4.6.2).
  • If a combined-gender event is held for an age category it is eligible to received ranking points. Points are not allocated separately for the males and females. E.g If 1st male, 2nd female, 3rd male, the female player will receive points for 2nd
  • If a combined-gender event is held for an age category, in addition to a men’s/boys’ and/or women’s/girls’ event in the same age category, and players compete in both available events, points will be awarded for the best A player cannot earn points twice in this scenario.
 
2. MERIT LISTS

2.1 Merit lists based on points from a player’s top five results within an age category. The exception being the Under 15 Merit lists, which include a player’s top five results across both U15 and U13 age events.

  • For example, if you are 44 years old and compete in O30 and O40 events, only points earned from your O40 events will be included in your top five for the O40 Merit list, subject to the points gained being one of your top five points results in O40 events in the 12-month
  • Merit lists for 2025 will be released in May, August and November, together with the Ranking lists
 
3. TOURNAMENTS

3.1 The following tournaments are automatically sanctioned in the TTNZ ranking system:

  • New Zealand Open Championships
  • New Zealand Veteran Open Championships
  • TTNZ Top 8 Tournaments
  • North Island Open Championships
  • South Island Open Championships
  • New Zealand Para Open Championships
  • TTNZ Regional Qualifiers
  • New Zealand Hopes Week & Challenge
  • AIMS Games
  • New Zealand Secondary Schools Cup
  • North Island Teams Championship
  • South Island Teams Championship
  • TTNZ Women & Girls Tournaments
  • TTNZ Community Clubs Tournament

3.2 Associations may request for a tournament to be sanctioned by TTNZ so that participants may earn rankings A sanctioned tournament will appear on the TTNZ calendar.

3.2.1 By requesting sanctioning of a tournament an Association acknowledges that only events specified in section 1.2 will be eligible for ranking points, subject to using the TTNZ ranking lists to do seedings and draws.

3.2.2 Tournaments that an Association may request sanctioning for include:

  • Association Open (one per Association)
  • Association Closed (one per Association)
  • Regional Competition (maximum of three per year) E.g. Auckland Anzac Open, Wellington Autumn Open
  • Annual regional inter-schools’ singles tournament (U13, U15, U19 singles only) E.g., Auckland Secondary Schools Championships, Auckland Intermediate Schools Championships

3.3 Association-sanctioned tournaments must comply with the requirements of 3.1 to 3.3.3. Failure to comply will result in the tournament forfeiting the results being included in the TTNZ Ranking lists:

3.3.1 The Association must submit the complete entry list including player names, player IMRs and player Associations to TTNZ no less than 72 hours prior to the commencement of the tournament.

3.3.2 The use of Tournament Planner or League Planner software is mandatory for all Tournaments, unless TTNZ has given prior agreement for the required results data to be provided in a format acceptable to TTNZ.

3.3.3 The full Tournament Planner or League Planner file must be supplied to TTNZ within 5 business days of tournament

 
4. POINTS

 4.1 Awarded points for each event consist of:

  • Points for wins in the Round Robin/Pool
  • Points for the knock-out round reached in the Main

4.1 The points from section 1 are stacked together for any event.

4.3 Points can be won by individuals from singles matches wins in individual events and/or singles matches wins in team contests.

4.3.1 The exact points per singles wins are as per the allocations below, whereby a % weighting factor applies for the points allocated to all age group and graded events.

4.3.2 In the case of the ranking points allocated per singles win in teams’ events, the total number of singles wins is combined to give a total at the conclusion of the event. For example, if a player is in a team in the B-grade teams’ event at the North Island or South Island Teams Championships and plays six (6) singles matches across all their teams’ contests and has four (4) wins they would be awarded 260 points for that teams’ event, which is 65 points per win (as per the table in 4.7) x 4 wins.

4.3.3 If the teams’ event is an age group event, the total ranking points won will be multiplied by the respective age group E.g., A player in a team in the under 15 B-grade teams’ event at the North Island or South Island Teams Championships plays six (6) singles matches across all their team’s contests and has four (4) wins, they would be awarded 39 points for that teams’ event. This is 65 points per win (as per the table in 4.7) x 4 wins x the 15% weighting factor for under 15 events.

4.4 One participation point will be granted for players who do not record any wins in an event, if pool play is completed.

4.5 Points Allocation:

  • The exact points per singles win are as per the tables in 4.6, whereby a % weighting factor also applies to the points allocated to all age and graded events.

4.6 Open Singles Points Allocations

Event Win 2nd 3rd* 4th* Semi-final 5th* 6th* 7th* 8th* Quarter-Final Last 16 Last 32 Last 64 Round Robin/Pool Play Group Wins
New Zealand Open Championships 6000 4200 2400 2100 2100 1800 1500 1320 1200 1200 600 360 120 120
North/South Island Open Championships 3000 2100 1200 1050 1050 900 750 660 600 600 300 180 60 60
TTNZ Top 8 2000 1400 800 700 NA 600 500 440 400 NA NA NA NA NA
Association Open 1500 1050 600 525 525 450 375 330 300 300 150 90 30 30
Regional Qualifier 1000 700 400 350 350 300 250 220 200 200 100 60 20 20
Regional Competition 750 525 300 260 260 225 190 165 150 150 75 45 15 10
Association Closed/Regional Interschools/Other 300 210 120 105 105 90 75 66 60 60 30 18 6 6
* Where and event is played to exact placing for the top 8 places only.

4.6.1 Graded events weightings:

4.6.1.1 - 1st Grade below Open (usually called B Grade) - 25% of Open points

4.6.1.2 - 2nd Grade below Open (C Grade) - 20% of Open points

4.6.1.3 - 3rd Grade below Open (D Grade) - 10% of Open points

4.6.1.4 - 4th Grade below Open (E Grade) - 5% of Open points

4.6.2 Age category events points weightings:

4.6.2.1 Under 19 - 20% of Open points

4.6.2.2 Under 15 - 15% of Open points

4.6.2.3 Under 13 - 10% of Open points

4.6.2.4 Over 30 - 20% of Open points

4.6.2.5 Over 40 - 20% of Open points

4.6.2.6 Over 50 - 15% of Open points

4.6.2.7 Over 60 - 10% of Open points

4.6.2.8 Over 65 - 8% of Open points

4.6.2.9 Over 70 - 6% of Open points

4.6.2.10 Over 75 - 4% of Open points

4.6.2.11 Over 80 - 2% of Open points

4.7 Teams’ events points allocations:

This table indicates points won per player for each single win in team contests, these points are multiplied by the respective age group weighting, if applicable.

Event Open B Grade C Grade D Grade E Grade
New Zealand Open Championships 270 135 75 30 15
North/South Island Teams Championships 135 65 35 12  
Regional Competition 45 22 12    
Regional Closed/Other 18 9 5    

4.8 Para events points allocations: TBA

5. INCIDENTS AND PENALTIES

5.1 If a player is disqualified for unsportsmanlike conduct, they shall lose a ranking slot and have six ranking slots as opposed to seven for the duration of the following 12 months. A player may be penalised more than once in a 12-month period. This may also affect their five ranking slots in the Merit list correlated to that age category. Any appeals against this decision must be made to TTNZ directly. TTNZ’s decision is final.

5.2 If a player defaults for non-injury or medical reasons, they will void their ranking points from the particular event. Medical documentation may be requested by TTNZ, proof and cost of obtaining proof is at the participant’s cost.

 

6. CONTACT AND REGULATION

For any queries regarding rankings, please email: rankings@tabletennis.nz.