The alternative top 25 lists

Good job, Alan, really appreciate it.

Up to week 21 ending 26th May 2016. For the younger players, esp those who just started out in their careers, their win – loss records or ratios may not be very meaningful or representative as compared with the older players who have been around much longer. I mean the comparison may be a bit unfair but nevertheless very useful and interesting to know as we follow their progress over time.

Players with at least a 5-year active playing record should give us a better picture of their relative strengths and achievements, more indicative of their performance. That said, Lin Dan’s records over a span of 12 – 14 years are truly, exceptional, phenomenal, justifying his unmatched status.

Unfortunately, for the late bloomers like Hu Yun, Wei Nan and Sho Sasaki, I believe most of their wins are in the latter part of their career, thus not putting them in a favourable light.

And for doubles players, if they are split and later formed new partnerships, the picture becomes complicated. Can’t be helped, I suppose. So whenever we make comparisons, try to take all this situations and events into consideration, i.e. compare apples with apples, not apples to oranges.