However, given that the body that oversees these records, the ITTF, was founded in 1926 and was included in the Olympic Games in 1988, there have been eight great athletes since then. In this article we will discuss about best Table Tennis players. It is important to note that Asians are by far the most dominant in the sport, followed by Germany and the rest of the world.
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The Best Ping Pong Players Of All Time
Jan-Ove Waldner
Born on October 3, 1965, Jan-Ove Waldner is one of the most popular and successful non-Chinese ping pong players ever. The coaches recognized his best athletic ability at an early stage, leading him to the final of the European Championship in 1982 at the age of 16.
His impressive eye-to-hand coordination made him the greatest player ever. During Waldner’s heyday in the 1990’s, he was more popular in China than Bill Clinton.
Waldner is one of seven athletes who have demonstrated and played their skills since making table tennis an Olympic sport.
In addition to his outstanding results at the Olympic Games, he has won three gold medals in singles, doubles and team events at the European Championships. Calling it a living legend of table tennis would certainly not be an exaggeration.
Ma Long
Ma Long is considered China’s star table tennis player because of his achievements and professionalism. He was also the captain of the Chinese team in the early years and since then he is considered to be the best player with excellent forehand grip and strong backhand.
He won a total of 16 medals at the World Championships from 2006 to 2013. Ma Long has won nine consecutive World Cup gold medals from 2009 to 2019.
Ma Long has an extraordinary record of being number one in the International Table Tennis Federation (IIFT) for 64 months. No other male player in the history of table tennis has reached this point.
In addition, he became the first male tennis player in the world to win every singles title in table tennis. Ma Long is also the first and only player to win two consecutive singles at the China National Games.
If you look at his excellent records, he is the best and the best player in this game. His teammates always consider him to be the most strategic player who can solve every problem in minutes. The service of its traditional pendulum is very visually deceptive in this game which folds with a subtle rotation and service movement.
Wang Nan
Wang Nun is a talented Chinese female athlete who was the world’s No. 1 player in the ITTF rankings from January 1999 to November 2002.
She started playing table tennis when she was seven years old and throughout the year she acquired very special and sharp skills. He has an excellent combination of ball positioning skills and a remarkable speed of hitting structure overall.
Wang Nunn won the women’s singles title at the 1994 Swedish Open. She has twice won the Women’s World Table Tennis Cup, the American and the China Open from 1997 to 1998.
Wang has been the leader of China’s women’s TT team since Deng Yaping’s retirement.
Ma Lin
Ma Lin started his table tennis journey at the age of five and became a member of the provincial team in 1990 due to his tremendous training and extraordinary abilities. Ma-Lin joined the Chinese national team at an early age and Serve in different matches. Proud of China.
He is the only athlete in the men’s category to have won an Olympic gold medal in all singles, doubles and team events.
He has won five major World Cup titles that no other male table tennis player has ever won. Malin is an aggressive player known for his powerful conversational prowess, quick footwork and third ball attacks.
After his retirement in December 2013, he served as the professional head coach for the Guangdong Provincial Table Tennis Team.
Deng Yaping
Deng Yaping is another Chinese super player who won the hearts of table tennis lovers immediately after entering the international championships. He won eighteen World Championship medals, including four Olympic titles between 1989 and 1997.
Deng Yaping began his career at the age of five and won the provincial junior championship after four years of training. He won his first prestigious national championship medal at the age of 13.
He was not given a place in the national team because of his height but finally got it in 1988. In 1991, he proved himself by winning the first singles at the World Championships.
Later, in 1992, he won a gold medal in both the doubles and singles championships at the Olympics in Spain. Deng Yiping was 24 years old at the time of her retirement and had already won more titles than any other player in the ping pong game. She held the title of # 1 ranked female athlete for eight years from 1990.
Also read Why Ping Pong Paddles are Red and Black
Wang Liqin
Wang Lekin is a retired Chinese tennis player who was ranked 12th in the International Table Tennis Federation rankings in January 2014. Started his table tennis career at the age of 6 and soon turned 15. He was selected by the Chinese men’s squad in 1993. He has three majors in three world championships. 1 by the ITTF for 25 months from September 2000 to September 2002. He is arriving as the coach of the Shanghai team in the Chinese Super League.
Jhang Jike
Zhang Jake is considered the fourth male player in the history of table tennis to have a grand slam career after winning a gold medal in the men’s singles at the London 2012 Olympics. He has won a Grand Slam in 445 days which is much faster than other players. Later in 2013 and 2014, he won the WTTC and the World Cup, making him the only player to come close to winning his second Grand Slam.
He is a right-handed two-winged assailant. With these dynamic attacks and offensive style, he puts players on the defensive in minutes, if not seconds.
Liu Guoliang
Liu Guoliang is another retired Chinese table tennis player who has won all major world tournaments, including the World Cup, the World Championships and the Olympics. He is the second man to win three Olympic, World Cup, and World Championship career grand slams. With his impressive serving style and pen holder grip, he is by far the most advanced tennis player.
Ding Ning
Born on June 20, 1990, Ding Ning is one of the best female tennis players.
She won the women’s singles at the World Table Tennis Championships in 2011. Later in 2015, she won her second world title in the women’s singles. She won for the third time in 2017 and became the best world champion for the third time.
Ding Ning also won a shining gold medal in the women’s singles at the 2016 Summer Olympics. She also won a silver medal at the last 2012 Summer Olympics. His impressive record made him part of the Chinese team that won gold medals in 2016 and 2012.
Kong Linghui
Kang Linghui is the most successful Chinese table tennis player ever. Kang Linghui competed in the 1996, 2000 and 2004 Summer Olympics to win. He plays brilliantly when he plays alongside Liu Guoliang.
Together, they competed and won the men’s doubles in 1996 and later, three years later, won the gold and silver medals in the men’s singles. These results make him the third player to win a Grand Slam of his career in three most famous championships.
Qiao Hong
Qiao Hong is a former Chinese Best Ping Pong Player. He has won four Olympic medals, two of which are gold. He has also won a total of 10 World Championship medals in his table tennis career.
She was ranked # 2 by the International Table Tennis Federation for a long time during her heyday.
Qiao Hong was inducted into the ITTF Hall of Fame in 2005. Qiao Hong is now the coach of the women’s national team and an active member of the Chinese Olympic Committee.
Guo Yue
Guo Yue is an incredibly talented female player whose left-handed shake hand attack is very popular in the table tennis industry. At the 2006 Asian Games in Doha, she won first place in the women’s singles, women’s doubles and women’s teams. Later, from January to July 2007, he participated in six international openings and won four gold medals for his outstanding performance. Guo also won the 2007 World Championships in Zagreb, Croatia. Following her performance at the London 2012 Olympics, she was transferred to the provincial team, but in 2015 the authorities removed her name from the national team. Since then, he had taken a detour from his sports career and studied finance at Tsinghua University.
Xu Xin
Xu Xin is a former world champion who defeated defending champion Ma Long three times in 2014 and even twice in 2016. Following in the footsteps of pen-hold champions such as Ma Lin and Wang Hao with a shake-hand grip, he defeated the long-awaited 2016 Korea Open title, his third tournament title this year.
Earlier, he had beaten Long in the semifinals of the Japan Open in 2016 but still failed to qualify for the Rio Olympics when Long stepped up and won the Grand Slam.
A summary of his records shows that he has won the World Tour ten times, is the back-to-back winner of the World Tour Grand Finals in 2012 and 2013, has won the Asian Cup twice in 2013 and 2016, and has been semi-twice. – Finalist at the World Championships.
Conclusion
Table tennis is a sport that has loyal followers all over the world who are always on the lookout for the next best player in the industry. Because table tennis is not a group game like football, hockey, or basketball, people find it extremely easy to pick and choose their favorite player during international competitions.
We hope this list has helped you to see some of the old and forgotten Grand Slam Masters and their impressive records throughout their careers. If you are an emerging tennis player, we wish you all the best, and if you are interested in tennis, we hope that as time goes on you will learn more about table tennis. Will continue to increase.