Susi Susanti
Zhang Ning
Stat by stat
Bars are scaled to the leader in this list.
The verdict
Zhang Ning leads 1 of 2 categories. Our all-time ranking places Susi Susanti at #5 and Zhang Ning at #6.
The case for Susi Susanti
Susi Susanti delivered Indonesia's first-ever Olympic gold medal of any kind at Barcelona 1992, winning the inaugural women's singles title on the same day her future husband Alan Budikusuma took the men's crown — a national fairy tale watched by a spellbound country. She added the 1993 World Championship and four All England titles (1990, 1991, 1993, 1994), and won the World Cup a record five times. Playing with metronomic consistency, tireless defence and an unbreakable competitive calm, she was the finest women's player of the early 1990s and the pioneer who proved the women's game could carry a nation's hopes. Her Barcelona gold remains one of the sport's most emotionally resonant moments and the foundation of Indonesia's badminton identity, and she is universally regarded as one of the greatest women ever to play the game.
The case for Zhang Ning
Zhang Ning defied age and expectation to become the only woman to win two Olympic singles gold medals, at Athens 2004 and Beijing 2008 — the latter aged 33, making her the oldest Olympic badminton champion. A late bloomer who broke through only in her late twenties, she added the 2003 World Championship and multiple Uber Cup team titles for China. Her game was built on suffocating consistency, deep clears and superb defence rather than flashy winners, wearing opponents down over long, punishing rallies. The 2008 gold, won on home soil in Beijing over compatriot Xie Xingfang, capped a remarkable second act and reinforced China's grip on women's singles. Few champions have peaked so late or defended an Olympic title so improbably, and her longevity at the top makes her one of the most quietly formidable players the women's game has produced.