Zhang Jike
Viktor Barna
Stat by stat
Bars are scaled to the leader in this list.
The verdict
Zhang Jike leads 3 of 4 categories. Our all-time ranking places Zhang Jike at #6 and Viktor Barna at #9.
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The case for Zhang Jike
Zhang Jike burst to the top with unmatched speed, completing the career Grand Slam in just 445 days, the fastest in history, by winning the 2011 World Championship, the 2011 World Cup and the London 2012 Olympic singles title in rapid succession. He defended his world title in 2013 and added another Olympic gold in the Rio 2016 team event, reaching the singles final there. Explosive backhand power, a ferocious serve and a theatrical, high-intensity presence made him one of the sport's most watched stars. Injuries and inconsistency curtailed his later years, but at his peak his raw firepower and clutch performance in the biggest finals placed him among the most devastating attackers the game has produced.
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.