Viktor Axelsen
Tai Tzu-ying
Stat by stat
Bars are scaled to the leader in this list.
The verdict
Tai Tzu-ying leads 1 of 2 categories. Our all-time ranking places Viktor Axelsen at #4 and Tai Tzu-ying at #9.
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The case for Viktor Axelsen
The dominant men's singles player of the 2020s and Europe's finest since the amateur era, Viktor Axelsen became the first non-Asian man in decades to rule the sport outright. The 1.94-metre Dane won Olympic gold in Tokyo 2020 and defended it in Paris 2024, and holds two World titles (2017, 2022) plus All England crowns in 2020 and 2022. Blending a colossal reach, a steep jump smash and hard-won patience, he strung together a spell of near-total dominance around 2021 and 2022, losing only a handful of matches across the seasons. Fluent in Mandarin and famously professional, he relocated to train at altitude in Dubai to extend his career. His rivalries — with Kento Momota, and later a rising field of Asian challengers — have defined the post-Lin Dan landscape and proved that the sport's summit is no longer an Asian monopoly.
The case for Tai Tzu-ying
Tai Tzu-ying is the greatest player never to win a major singles title, and perhaps the most naturally gifted shot-maker the women's game has produced. She held the world No. 1 ranking for a record 214 weeks and won more than 30 titles, including back-to-back All England crowns (2017, 2018) and the World Tour Finals. Her badminton was defined by outrageous deception — wrist-flick disguises, no-look drops and impossible angles that left opponents frozen mid-court. Yet Olympic and World Championship gold eluded her: she took silver at Tokyo 2020, losing to Chen Yufei, and never won the Worlds despite years of dominance. Retiring in 2024 after persistent injury, Tai Tzu leaves a legacy measured not in the biggest titles but in a style so joyful and inventive that she permanently expanded the imagination of what the women's game could look like.