Boll will surpass the previous record held by Sweden's Jan-Ove Waldner, who was 32 years and 28 days old when he last topped the rankings back in October 1997.

The German will be 36 years, 11 months and 21 days on March 1, when the latest rankings are revealed.

He has previously been the world number one on three occasions, with the last time coming back in March 2011.

Boll previously held the top spot between January and May in 2003, as well as August to September later that year.

"I am very joyful," said Boll.

"It's confirmation of my hard work over the past few months. 

"It is also a confirmation of my constancy, as I was the number one for the first time 15 years ago and now, just a few days before my 37th birthday, I am certainly the oldest number one of all time."

Boll takes up the top ranking after winning the ITTF Europe Top 16 event, which has seen him move ahead of his compatriot Dimitrij Ovtcharov on top of the rankings.

Ovtcharov has dropped to number three in the world after two months in the top position.

China's Fan Zhendong remains as the world number two, with compatriots Lin Gaoyuan and Xu Xin completing the top five.

Zhu Yuling has moved back to number one in the women's world rankings, last having the position in December 2017.

Zhu has overtaken fellow Chinese star Chen Meng, who has dropped back to second place in the standings.

Kasumi Ishikawa of Japan lies in third place, followed by Singapore's Feng Tianwei and Japan's Mima Ito.

Olympic and world champions Ma Long and Ding Ning are back in ninth and 14th in the men's and women's rankings respectively, after not being active at the end of 2017.

The ITTF state this is partly due to their newly developed world ranking system, which they claim presents a more accurate measure and realistic representation of the playing level of an athlete's current performance.

It also ensures that the rankings better support ITTF events.