[Mark Padgett]

OK, as we all know, the top 12 rated international ping pong (table tennis for you effete snobs) players are:

1) Yi Yong Fan
2) Ilija Lupulesku
3) David Yoong-Xiang Zhuang
4) Ju Gao
5) Han Xiao
6) Mark Hazinski
7) Yinghua Chang
8) XiaoDong (Nick) Wang
9) Hheng Yi Du
10) YanJun Gao
11) Chen Wang
12) Jim Butler (how'd he get in there?)

My money's on XiaoDong (Nick) Wang to move way up early this season. He's really been working on his backhand according to ESPN. What do you guys think?