China's Fan, Ding crowned at 2018 ITTF Stars event

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The International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) gave this year's top male and female awards to China's Fan Zhendong and Ding Ning in Incheon, S. Korea, on Wednesday.

Screenshot of ITTF's official account via Twitter.

According to the latest ITTF ranking, Fan is the men's world number one. The 21-year-old, who was the champion at the Nanjing 2014 Youth Olympic Games, this year bagged singles' ITTF World Tour titles in Hungary, Qatar, and Stockholm.

Screenshot of ITTF's men and women's world rankings for 2018.

He also won the men's World Cup in France and clinched two gold medals at the Asian Games in Indonesia. The ITTF award has made Fan the third player from China, after Zhang Jike and Ma Long, to win the Male Table Tennis Star award.

Ding Ning attends the ITTF Star Awards ceremony in Incheon, S. Korea, December 12, 2018. /VCG Photo

For a record fourth time, 28-year-old Ding has clinched the title of Female Table Tennis Star of the Year. The 2016 Rio Olympic gold medalist currently ranks second in the world, one spot behind her compatriot Zhu Yuling.

This year, Ding became World Cup champion in both the singles and team event and clinched gold as part of Team China at the World Team Championships in Sweden.

Xu Xin speaks at the ITTF Star Awards ceremony in Incheon, S. Korea, December 12, 2018. /VCG Photo

The ITTF also honored China's Xu Xin, who is the current world number two, as the Best Point Star and India's Manika Batra as the Breakthrough Star.