Event Classification And Rating System Proposal For Table tennis

    Classification System. A classification system provides the ladder and rungs upon which players climb. It gives meaning to the Rating System. With no official classification system, nationally or internationally, the sport of table tennis is still in its infancy. Would boxing have any credibility and standing if every promoter could choose his own weight classes; Track and Field ran 112-yard dashes; Horse racing officials set arbitrary distances; Swimming officials their own platform heights? Yet our tournament directors create their own classes at whim, such as U-1275, U-1525 (1999 U.S.Open), U-1140, U-2050, U-2350.
    When I originally recommended this essential element, the USATT Rating Committee, in a 5-page critique of my Proposal, wrote: "Mr. Simons is free (and even encouraged) to run events like U-1983 singles. Perhaps it would be an interesting marketing ploy that would encourage participation." ("A Response to Mr. Gilbert Simons= >The Future of Table Tennis in the U.S.’", p 2). So much for the Committee’s marketing know-how.
    Marlene Cimons, in an L.A. Times article, wrote: "For goal-oriented, Type-A personalities like me, the martial arts - with its belt rankings - provides the perfect stepladder of achievement...I signed up, thinking I=d try it for a few weeks. That was more than two years - and a half a dozen belts - ago...I don=t know about a black belt, but I=d sure like to make it to brown someday...I do it because I like setting goals, and each new belt level serves as a brand new goal...It is a great feeling of accomplishment to progress to the next belt level@ (11-24-95). With no official Classification System, contestants are robbed of goal-setting incentives.
    The current Ranking tool aborts the creation of a meaningful classification system. Permanently locking players into niches makes promotions impossible. A handful of players on the cusp of various classes can move up to the next class, fall back, and keep winning. The rest of the players can neither win anything or promote, giving them no incentive to keep playing tournaments or to remain in the USATT.
    To use the canoe analogy, the Ranking scheme pulls all players from the center of the river as soon as possible and shunts them into eddies, battling the same players endlessly for life, with no hope for advancement. An official Classification System frees players from their anchors, providing players - casual, recreational, elite and professional- an incentive to join the organization and enter tournaments. It creates prestige, tradition.
     It is also a major organizational marketing tool, a prerequisite for the growth of the sport. It costs nothing but is highly meaningful. The Classes must have distinctive and attractive titles. Rungs should not be too far apart, discouraging players, yet not too close, cheapening promotions. The below-proposed Classification system places rungs 300 points apart, except for the Novice class.

Classes

Master Points Ranges

1. Novice (Recreational):
2. D (Recreational):
3. C (Recreational):
4. B (Recreational):
5. A (Recreational):
6. Advanced (Recreational):
7. Master (Recreational):
8. Elite Master:
9. Elite Bronze Master:
10. Elite Silver Master:
11. Elite Gold Master:
12. Professional Master:
13. Professional Bronze Master:
14. Professional Silver Master:
15. Professional Gold Master
16. Professional National Master:
17. Professional International Master:
18. Professional International Grandmaster:

0 - 99
100 - 399
400 - 699
700 - 999
1,000 - 1,299
1,300 - 1,599
1,600 - 1,799
1,800 - 2,099
2,100 - 2,399 including 200 B. points.
2,400 - 2,699 including 200 S. points.
2,700 - 2,999 including 200 G. points.
3,000 - 3,299
3,300 - 3,599 including 300 P.B. points.
3,600 - 3,899 including 300 P.S. points.
4,000 - 4,299 including 300 P.G. points.
4,300 - 4,599 including 300 P.N. points.
4,600 - 4,899 including 300 P.I. points.
4,900 and above: including 500 P.I. points.

The Special Points noted in certain classes (B, S, G Points, etc.) represent points only available at various Star-Rated Tournaments, as designated by the USATT. Star tournaments now gain real meaning and prestige. As upper classes become saturated, further classes can be added without discomfort.
As the USATT gains thousands of new members, tournaments will need to be separated into various classes. Children, seniors and women will require their own tournaments and classifications.

Rating System. The National Physical Achievement Standards book states: "Point systems are tests of achievement... as a stimulus to participation and as a record of proficiency...and serve as an incentive for an individual to progress...Tests of achievements, point systems, and other methods of scoring progress have since antiquity been a part of sports. No sport is without it which can claim major status. Statistics, records, comparisons; these feed the flame of popularity, and have been the major reason for the present success of bowling and other sports." Such a rating system must be objective, easy to understand and motivational.
The following is a suggested chart for awarding points in Tournament Events:

No. of entries	winner	2nd	3rd & 4th	5^th to 8^th	9^th to 16th
1 to 7	0 points	0 points	0 points	0 points	0 points
8 to 15	20 points	15 points	10 points	0 points	0 points
16 to 23	40 points	30 points	20 points	10 points	0 points
24 to 31	50 points	40 points	30 points	15 points	0 points
32 to 47	60 points	50 points	40 points	20 points	10 points
48 up	70 points	60 points	50 points	40 points	20 points

    This chart will need additional lines, for the E.R.S.,will bring huge numbers of new players into tournament events, and hundreds of entries per event will become common. Column 1 registers players of that class. Lower-level players are not counted for point purposes. Players winning points in events above their class have points doubled or tripled, up to the number placing them into the new class. Excess points are awarded at face value. This quickly places such players in their proper class. Promotions are permanent. Players never lose points. Players must win 2 1sts, or 1 st and 1 2^nd, or 4 2nds to promote to the next class, gaining some tangible rewards prior to moving up.
    Players know how many points are in contention prior to the event, and how many they have won at its conclusion. The T.D. easily calculates points won by contestants, and sends this information to H.Q. It in turn updates all ratings immediately. "Rating Fees" become redundant, lost revenue made up hundreds of times by increased membership dues and increased tournament fees.
    Established players are retroactively pegged at their highest rating level. Entry-level and unranked players are tested by USATT Certified Testers using objective standard tests visually or by the use of robots.