Table Tennis is touted as one of the most popular sport in the world and credit should be given to all the stakeholders who have worked hard behind the scenes to make this entity extremely popular.
Here in this article, we will reveal Top 5 Greatest Table Tennis players of all time to be shared in the below format:
5. Kong Linghui:
Known for his versatility, Kong Linghui ranks fifth among the greatest table tennis players of all time.
He has made significant contributions in the singles and doubles domains and helped China win the main event.
He won a gold medal in the doubles division at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta.
Kong won gold and silver in the doubles division at the 2000 Olympics.
4. Jan-Ove Waldner:
On the list of the greatest table tennis players of all time, Jan Ove Waldner ranks fourth. His skill and elegance on the table give him an advantage on game day.
He is from Sweden, where he won gold medals in games and dominated the world stage.
Jan won a gold medal in the singles division at the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona.
3. Wang Liqin:
Wang Liqin comes 3rd in the list of Table Tennis Players to ever play this sport.
Liqin strategic challenges and brilliance, contribute towards adding legacy and making him greatest Table Tennis Players in the world.
He started playing the sport at the tender age of 6 years due to his impressive performance at domestic level he was picked up for the national side at the age of 15 years old.
He won 3 Major Championships so far in his career.
He held Number 1 ranked player record for consecutive 25 months, from September 2000 to September 2002.
He retired in the year 2011, to pursue this sport.
2. Zhang Jike:
Zhang Jike comes 2nd in the list of top table tennis players to ever play this sport.
His record as player is simply phenomenal, as he won five world championships in his career.
He also achieved a unique feat in Table Tennis by becoming fourth male player after Jan Ove Waldner(1992), Liu Guilong(1999) and Kong Linghui( 2000) to win gold medal at Olympics games in London 2012.
His unique record where he won WTTC Championships in the year 2011, followed by World Cup in 2011 and subsequently finishing the same year by winning London Olympics 2012 making him fastest player to achieve this feat.
He also went on to win WTTC 2013 tournament followed by World Cup 2014 victory.
He is a retired player now but certainly considered as one of the best ever to grace this game.
1. Ma Long:
Ma Long comes top at the list of players ever to play this game.
He is often referred as “Undisputed Champion” by his peers especially the way he has achieved all feats and made an impact with his memorable performances.
He won Olympic Gold Medal for record six times and World Championship for record 3 times too respectively.
These two records made by him makes him an invincible player in the world of Table Tennis.
He held number 1 position for record 34 months starting from April 2015.
His mouth staggering record in Table Tennis gave him nickname ” The Dragon” & “The Dictator” respectively.
He is widely respected in Table Tennis ecosystem for his brilliant performance in the game.
Since 2014, he has led Chinese National Team as leader.
My Perspective:
All these players have done well in their own capacity but the dominant tendency at Olympics and World Championships makes them complete invincible player to watch out for in the world of Table Tennis.
In India we have brilliant players like Manika Batra, G Sathiyan, Achanta Sharath Kamal and Suthrita Mukherjee but skill wise player needs to develop their game and pyschologically too they need to work so that they can bring their A game on the table when it is needed the most.
