How the Ontario Ranking List (ORL) Works? (Ontario Table Tennis Ranking Explained)

This is the official ranking system used by Ontario Table Tennis (OTT) for high-performance and competitive players in Ontario.

If you play tournaments in Ontario, you may see a number next to your name on the Ontario Ranking List (ORL). That number is not a TTCAN rating. It is a different system.

(Clear beginner version based on OTT’s official “Ontario Ranking List Explained” course and point tables.)

1. Super Simple Idea (Read This First)

Think of ORL like a school report card with two parts:

• Level → your rank “class” (Level 1 is the best, Level 18 is the lowest)
• Event Points → bonus points you earn from how well you finish in tournaments

Your total ranking score is:

Total Ranking Points = Your Best Level Points + Your Event Points

That is the whole system in one line.

Important: ORL is based on your final placement in events (1st, 2nd, quarter-final, round of 16, and so on). It is not like the TTCAN rating system, where every single match win or loss moves points.

2. ORL vs TTCAN Rating (Do Not Mix Them Up)

Many beginners get confused here. Easy difference:

You can have both. They answer different questions.

• TTCAN asks: “How strong are you match-to-match right now?”
• ORL asks: “How high did you place in important events, and what level did that earn you?”

3. Who Is on the Ontario Ranking List?

ORL is mainly for competitive / high-performance OTT members.

Key idea: There is one combined ranking list for all ages and genders. Why? So seeding can be more fair when different groups play together.

You can still filter the list by age or gender when you want a category view (for example U15 boys or women’s singles).

Name note: The organization is called OTT (Ontario Table Tennis), not OTTA.

4. The Magic Formula

Again, because this is the heart of everything:

Total Ranking Points = Maximum Level Points + Event Points

What that means in plain English:

• Level Points come from the best level you currently hold
• Event Points come from your results in ranking events
• Your published ranking total is those two things added together

So a player can be strong because they hold a high level, or because they collected a lot of event points, or both.

5. What Is a “Level”?

ORL uses 18 levels.

• Level 1 = top / world-class band
• Level 18 = beginner competitive band

Lower level number = stronger player.

Each level has a fixed amount of Level Points. You do not pick your level. You earn it by placing well enough in the right events.

Think of levels like belts in martial arts: you move up by proving yourself at events, and you must keep proving it or the level can drop later.

6. What Are Event Points?

Event Points are the extra points you get for your final result in a tournament.

Simple examples:

• Finish 1st → more event points
• Finish in quarter-finals → fewer event points
• Lose early → even fewer (or sometimes zero, depending on the table and wins)

Big rule at major national/international events: if you get no wins, you get no points — even if the table shows a round.

So participation alone is not enough. You need results.

7. Which Events Count?

ORL only counts certain competitions. In plain groups:

A) International events

• Olympic Games
• Pan American Games
• Commonwealth Games
• Youth Olympic Games
• Pan American Youth Games
• World Championships / World Youth / World Cup
• Pan American Championships (all ages)
• Pan Am Cup
• ITTF World Ranking positions (using the most recent ITTF list before ORL is published)

B) National events

• Canadian Championships
• Selection tournaments
• Canada Winter Games
• Target Group tournaments

C) Provincial (Ontario) events

• Ontario Championships and other OTT ranking events
• Ontario Cups / regional events (depending on class and rules)
• Ontario Winter Games (special multi-year rules)

Not every club night or random open automatically becomes big ORL points. The event type and strength matter.

8. How Long Do Points Last?

Normal rule: Results count for about the past 12 months.

But big multi-year events are special.

For major multi-year events (like Olympics / some Games):

• Your Level can stay longer — often until the next same title event, or up to about 5 years for senior / 2 years for youth (whichever comes first)
• Your Event Points can shrink over time (for example cut after year 2, year 3, and so on)

Canada Winter Games example:

• Levels usually last no more than 2 years if the next Games come sooner
• Event Points drop 50% after 12 months
• Event Points drop to 0 after 24 months

Ontario Winter Games example:

• Level can last 2 years
• Event Points drop 50% after 12 months

Easy memory trick:

• Level = your badge (can stick around longer)
• Event Points = your recent scoreboard (fades faster)

9. When Is the List Published?

ORL is published at the end of each month.

It is also used as a base for selection criteria in Ontario high-performance pathways.

10. International Points (The Big Stage)

International tables give the biggest levels and points.

Here are beginner-friendly sample rows from the official men’s international idea (not the full PDF):

Women’s and youth tables use the same idea, but the absolute level/point numbers are different.

OTT publishes separate PDF tables for:

• International Male Seniors
• International Female Seniors
• International Male Youth
• International Female Youth

11. Easy Example: Eugene Wang Style Walkthrough

OTT’s own course uses Eugene Wang as a real-world example. Here is the beginner version of that story.

Step A — Olympics At the Tokyo Olympics (played in 2021), he reached Round of 16.

• Level earned: Level 2
• Level Points: 10,000
• Event Points at the time: 937.5

Step B — Points shrink later By the third year after those Olympics, the event points were cut to 50% → 468.75. The Olympic result then expires when the next Olympics arrive.

Step C — Other big events stack He also collected points from other majors over time, such as:

• Pan American multi-event results (singles, doubles, mixed doubles, teams)
• Commonwealth Games results
• World Championships results
• Later Pan American Championships results

What beginners should notice: One great major result can hold a high level for a long time, while the extra event points slowly fade.

12. National Points (Canada-Level Events)

National events are smaller than Olympics/Worlds, but still very important in Canada.

National Men’s Singles

(Canadian Championships / Selection Tournaments / Canada Winter Games / Target Group)

National Women’s Singles

(same event group)

Beginner takeaway:

• A top men’s singles national winner band can be around 2,500 event points, 1,250 level points, about Level 5
• Women’s and junior bands are lower on the absolute scale
• Doubles and teams also count, usually for fewer points than singles

There are separate male and female national PDFs.

13. Provincial Points (Ontario Events)

This is where most Ontario club players will earn ORL points.

Ontario events are grouped by strength/category, often talked about as ON1, ON2, ON3 (Ontario Championships are the top ON1 type).

There was an old system and a new system:

• Before August 31, 2023: older fixed point tables
• After September 1, 2024: new provincial rules (important change)

Why did OTT change it? Because the old way could over-reward weak fields. Example problem: an event was announced as a high class (like U2000), but almost everyone was much lower (like U800). Players got too many points.

The new idea is smarter: points depend more on the real strength of the players who entered, not only on the name of the event.

14. Provincial Event Classes (A, B, C, D)

After the update, provincial events can be limited by level:

There are also age groups such as U19, U17, U15, U13, U11, U9, and O40. Event names may add letters like D (doubles), XD (mixed doubles), or T (teams).

15. How Provincial Levels Are Assigned (Beginner Version)

Here is the simple process OTT teaches with the Ontario Championships example.

1. Find the event’s maximum level Every age/gender/event has a ceiling. Example: U17 Boys Ontario Championships (ON1) max level can be Level 10. That usually assumes the strongest entered player was strong enough. If the top entered player is weaker, the winner’s awarded level can be based on “about 2 levels better than the top entrant,” with caps.
2. Look at the entry list All players are listed with their level before the tournament.
3. Sort players by current level Best levels first. Remember: smaller level number = stronger.
4. After the event, assign levels by final standing 1st place gets the best available level slot, 2nd gets the next, and so on — but nobody can go above the event maximum.
5. Color meaning (very useful)

16. How Provincial Event Points Are Calculated

Using the same U17 Boys Ontario Championships example from OTT:

Then players below the winner usually get less.

Simple cascade rule:

• If you finish behind someone and end at the same level, you often get about 10% less event points than the player ahead of you
• If you finish at a lower level than the player ahead, you get the smaller amount from the official comparison rules (often tied to your own level points, not more than the person above you)

Tiny examples from the official walkthrough:

• Winner (Gulati) → 234.38 event points
• 2nd place (Du) → 0.9 × 234.38 = 210.94 event points
• A much lower finisher can drop to small numbers like 21.98 or 5.49 depending on level and place

You do not need to memorize every decimal. Just remember: better place + better field + higher event tier = more points.

17. What Happens to Your Total After a Tournament?

After an event, your total change depends on both level and event points.

This is why two players with the same finish can feel different outcomes: one may be breaking into a new level, while the other is only collecting event points.

18. Beginner FAQs

Q: I won one match at a local event. Will my ORL explode? A: Probably not. ORL cares about event type, field strength, final placement, and official tables. One small win is not the same as winning Ontario Championships.

Q: Is a higher total always a higher level? A: Not always in the short term. Total = level points + event points. Someone can hold a slightly lower level but still sit high from stacked event points.

Q: Do house-league games automatically count? A: Only if the event is part of the official ORL structure/tables. Do not assume every club activity is an ORL ranking event.

Q: Why did my points go down even though I did not play? A: Because old event points expire or depreciate, and unconfirmed levels can fall after the time window.

Q: Can OTT change the table? A: Yes. If a tournament format is unknown in advance or changes, OTT can adjust the points table so it still matches the published intent.

Q: Do pure USATT events count? A: Generally no as regular ORL events. There may be limited optional US bonus rules in special cases, but do not build your Ontario ranking plan around random US opens.

19. Super Short Cheat Sheet

• ORL = Ontario ranking, not TTCAN rating
• Total = Level Points + Event Points
• 18 levels (1 best, 18 lowest)
• Based on placement, not every match swing
• Usually last 12 months, with longer rules for big multi-year events
• Published end of each month
• International > National > Provincial in point size
• Provincial system changed after September 1, 2024 to stop weak-field inflation
• No wins at major national/international = no points

Quick memory table:

20. Official Sources

If you want the original OTT material:

• Main course page: https://ontariotabletennis.com/ontario-ranking-list-explained/
• Interactive lessons: https://ontariotabletennis.com/lessons/ontario-ranking-list-explained/
• International male seniors PDF: https://ontariotabletennis.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/International-Male-Seniors.pdf
• International female seniors PDF: https://ontariotabletennis.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/International-Female-Seniors.pdf
• National male PDF: https://ontariotabletennis.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/National-male.pdf
• National female PDF: https://ontariotabletennis.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/National-female.pdf
• Older detailed provincial tables: https://ontariotabletennis.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/ranking-in-details.pdf
• Newer provincial points sheet: https://ontariotabletennis.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/Provinical-Points.pdf

Also read our related guide: How the TTCAN Rating System Works

Note: OTT documents can be updated. Always check the latest official OTT release if you are using ORL for selection decisions.