How the TTCAN Rating System Works? (Canadian Table Tennis Rating System)

The TTCAN Rating System is Canada’s official national ranking for table tennis. Learn how points move after every match, how new players get temporary ratings, and what the star levels mean — explained simply.

This is the official national rating system used by Table Tennis Canada (TTCAN). Every competitive player in Canada gets a rating number that shows how strong they are right now.

(Clear version based on the official 2016 document)

1. Basic Principles

The rating of a player is a number.

Players get this number by competing in official competitions. The results are sent to the Canadian Ranking System.

How points move after a match:

The winner gains points
The loser loses points
The number of points that move depends on the difference in rating between the two players

There are two types of results:

Expected results → The higher-rated player wins
Unexpected results → The lower-rated player wins (an upset)

Important rule: Wins or losses against unrated players give zero points to either player.

2. Weightings (Star Ratings)

Not all tournaments are equal.

TTCAN’s Competition Department puts every event into one of four star levels:

* (1-star)
** (2-star)
*** (3-star)
**** (4-star)

Higher star events move more points.

Here are the exact official tables:

Expected Results (Higher-rated player wins)

Unexpected Results (Lower-rated player wins)

Simple rule of thumb: The closer the two players’ ratings are, the more points move. Upsets always move more points than expected wins.

3. New Players (Temporary “T” Rating)

A new player starts with a temporary rating marked with a T.

Here is exactly how the temporary rating is calculated:

3.1 If the player has both wins and losses, and the lowest loss is against a player who is rated higher than their best win → Temporary rating = rating of their highest win.

Example: Jean wins against 1950, 1998 and 2010, and loses to 2050. → Temporary rating = 2010

3.2 If the lowest loss is against a player rated lower than their highest win → Temporary rating = median of all the opponents’ ratings.

Example: Wing wins against 1145, 1070 and 1210, and loses to 1100. → Temporary rating = 1155

3.3 If the player has no losses → Temporary rating = highest win + 100

3.4 If the player has no wins → Temporary rating = 100

3.5 The temporary “T” is removed when the player reaches:

5 wins and 1 loss, or
15 wins (no matter how many losses)

After that, the player gets a normal (regular) rating.

3.6 When a regular player plays against a T-rated player:

The regular player can gain points
The regular player cannot lose points

4. Players with Low Activity

If a player has no recorded results for more than 24 months:

They are removed from the published TTCAN Rating list
They still keep their last rating number

When they return to competition, the system uses their last rating on file.

5. Deadline and Procedures (Updated March 2016)

5th of every month → New rating list is published (Example: April 5th list includes all events played in March)
5th to 20th → Only period when Provincial Rating Chairs can report errors (No corrections accepted after the 20th)
23rd to 25th → System is re-run if corrections were submitted
Last day of the month → Deadline for provinces to submit results to TTCAN

If you see a wrong result, contact your provincial association or the tournament director first.

Official Sources