2010 Top Ranker

It's already 2011, so we now may know who did the best in 2010. Let's take a look.

At the International stage, Heo Yeongho (8 dan) came out ahead with 23-5. Three victories ahead of Lee Sedol (9 dan) who scored 20-4. At the top 21, Korea dominates the list with 11 people, while China got 10 people. No Japanese and Taiwanese are on the list. Park Jieun is the only female on the list.Scoring 15-3 at international stage, she was placed fourth behind Kong Jie of China.


Heo Yeongho (white) vs. Tuo Jiaxi (black)
Heo Yeongho (left)

In Japan, Murakawa Daisuke (7 dan) hit the first place with 47-16. Murakawa became famous in 2010 after he won the preliminary of Samsung Cup (making him the only Japanese to do so) and became the winner of Kansai Kiin First Place beating Yuki Satoshi the title holder. The other youngster, Iyama Yuta, didn't do very well as he scored only 34-21 (62% rate). Kinda a so so performance from Iyama as last year he scored 43-14. There are 4 female players at the top 35. Suzuki Ayumi (15th, 27-16, 63%), Yoshida Mika (23th, 24-14, 63%), Xie Yimin (26th, 22-12, 65%), and Mukai Chiaki (35th, 20-18, 53%).


Murakawa Daisuke

In Korea, the back-from-break, Lee Sedol (9 dan), scored an amazing 74-14, a high 84% winning rate. It's a prove that Lee Sedol hasn't lost his touch eventhough he took a year break. Heo Yeongho is second with a huge 10 victories difference, scoring 64-20 (76% winning rate). There are 4 femlae players on the list (if I didn't miscount). Park Jieun (17th, 37-25, 60%), Park Jiyeon (21st, 34-20, 63%), Cho Hyeyeon (27th, 30-20, 60%), and Kim Yunyoung (32nd, 29-19, 60%).


Lee Sedol

Tuo Jiaxi (3 dan) became the top scorer in China. He scored 56-24 during 2010, giving him a 7 spots leap from his performance in 2009. Zhou Ruiyang (5 dan) came second on the list with 54-26. Meanwhile, Gu Li is 4th with 51-35 and Kong Jie is 6th with 45-23. I think no female player made it to the top 31 this year.


Tuo Jiaxi (right)

In Taiwan, Xiao Zhenghao (7 dan) was ranked first with 52-20, while Zhou Junxun is second with a close 51-22. Hei Jiajia (Joanne Missingham) made it to the top 20 with 18-8 score. 2010 was a wonderful year for her. I hope to see more of her in 2011.


Xiao Zhenghao