Jan-Ove Waldner
Liu Guoliang
Stat by stat
Bars are scaled to the leader in this list.
The verdict
Dead even across the measured categories. Our all-time ranking places Jan-Ove Waldner at #2 and Liu Guoliang at #11.
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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 Liu Guoliang
Liu Guoliang was the first man to complete the career Grand Slam, winning the 1996 Olympic singles title, the 1996 World Cup and the 1999 World Championship. A penhold player famous for a deceptive serve and a tricky combination of pimpled and inverted play, he thrived in the 21-point era and led China's fightback against the Swedish golden generation. His playing career was relatively short, but his impact deepened afterward: as head coach he masterminded an era of Chinese dominance, guiding the likes of Zhang Jike and Ma Long, before becoming a powerful administrator. Few figures have shaped the sport so completely from both sides of the table, first as a Grand Slam champion, then as its most influential coach.