Deng Yaping
Fan Zhendong
Stat by stat
Bars are scaled to the leader in this list.
The verdict
Deng Yaping leads 2 of 4 categories. Our all-time ranking places Deng Yaping at #3 and Fan Zhendong at #8.
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The case for Deng Yaping
Standing barely 1.50m tall and rejected early for her height, Deng Yaping became the most dominant woman the sport had seen, topping the world rankings for eight consecutive years. She won four Olympic gold medals, singles and doubles at both Barcelona 1992 and Atlanta 1996, along with multiple World Championship singles titles and the honours to complete a career Grand Slam. Her ferocious close-to-table attack, aggressive penhold-influenced game and sheer competitive intensity redefined the women's game and made her a national icon in China. Retiring at just 24, she left as arguably the greatest female player ever, later earning degrees at Cambridge and serving in Olympic administration, a rare champion whose legacy reached far beyond the table.
The case for Fan Zhendong
The leading player of the late 2010s and early 2020s, Fan Zhendong completed the career Grand Slam by winning Olympic singles gold in Paris 2024, adding to World Championship titles in 2021 and 2023 and three World Cup victories. A compact, explosive left-of-centre power player, he combined a thunderous backhand with heavy forehand topspin and spent long stretches as world number one. He inherited the mantle from Ma Long and led China through the WTT professional era, defeating a rising international field to secure the sport's biggest prizes. Still in his prime, his record already ranks among the elite, and his blend of physicality and modern close-to-table aggression exemplifies where the men's game has moved.