Wang Nan
Viktor Barna
Stat by stat
Bars are scaled to the leader in this list.
The verdict
Wang Nan leads 3 of 4 categories. Our all-time ranking places Wang Nan at #5 and Viktor Barna at #9.
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The case for Wang Nan
Wang Nan collected one of the largest trophy hauls in the sport's history, amassing more than twenty world championship titles across singles, doubles and team events. She won four Olympic gold medals between 2000 and 2008, took World Championship singles titles in 1999, 2001 and 2003, and won multiple World Cups to complete a career Grand Slam. A left-handed attacker with superb consistency and doubles instincts, she anchored China's women's team through a golden decade and formed legendary doubles partnerships. Her longevity was exceptional: she reached the Beijing 2008 singles final on home soil near the end of her career. Few players, male or female, have accumulated silverware on her scale, and her collective record remains staggering.
The case for Viktor Barna
The dominant figure of the hardbat era, Viktor Barna won five World Championship singles titles between 1930 and 1935 and amassed more than twenty world championship titles across all events, a total that stood as a benchmark of dominance for decades. Playing before the Olympics and World Cup existed, he could not chase a modern Grand Slam, but within his own age he was untouchable, leading a Hungarian dynasty that ruled interwar table tennis. His attacking flair on thin pimpled rubber influenced generations and helped popularise the sport across Europe. Later based in England, he remained an ambassador for the game. Judged against his contemporaries, no early player was more prolific, and his singles record is among the greatest ever.