02 Jul 2008 at 19:31 | Published by: JJM | Views: 7049 | News search

World Minigolfsport Federation has published an updated version of world ranking list, dated “1st March 2008”.

Anders Olsson (S) remains number one in men’s ranking, Peter Eisenschmidt (S) rises to second place, and Mike Mann (CH) falls from second to third place.

Top three of women’s ranking remains unchanging: Bianca Oberweg (D), Karin Wiklund (S), Natasja Klarenbeek (NL).

World ranking of juniors is lead by Tim Hansson (S), Gerrit Britz (D) and Patrick Riener (A). Top three in female juniors is Simona Handlová (CZ), Jana Nakládalová (CZ) and Jasmin Uhl (D).

The world ranking system of WMF has had some problems with its public image, as the system has not been very successful in rating all players from the best to the worst, in order of playing performance — so that a player lower in the list would statistically lose to a player higher in the list, more than 50% of time.

The difficulties of the ranking system are mainly practical and economical. Minigolf does not have a World Tour, where the best players would meet each other many times a year.

Some top players skip the Nations Cup, to give way for new talents who are learning for a future career in the national team. Some East European countries simply cannot afford to travel abroad more than once a year. European Cup offers extra ranking points to those whose club team qualifies to the competition. Such factors, unrelated to playing skill, have a direct impact on the world ranking of players.

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