Jan-Ove Waldner
Deng Yaping
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 Jan-Ove Waldner at #2 and Deng Yaping at #3.
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The case for Jan-Ove Waldner
The Mozart of table tennis and the greatest non-Chinese player ever, Waldner is revered even in China for his creativity, serve variation and preternatural touch. He won World Championship singles titles in 1989 and 1997, the 1990 World Cup and Olympic gold in Barcelona 1992, completing a career Grand Slam. He led Sweden to famous team victories over China in 1989 and 1991, briefly halting the dynasty, and remained competitive across five Olympics, reaching another final in 2000 at age 34. Playing through the sponge, speed-glue and 40mm-ball eras, he embodied artistry over athleticism, improvising angles and spins that opponents could not read, and remains the benchmark against whom every European hopeful is still measured.
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.