Cai vs Ma Lin
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Ma Lin wins: Longevity
Cai wins: Honours, Statistics
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Showing full careers. Pick a window to recalculate the selected period.
Category radar
Verdict
Ma Lin leads in 3 of 5 weighted categories. Olympic singles champion in 2008 and four-time World Cup winner.
Category breakdown
Season form · Titles per season
Career timeline · Titles per season
Cumulative output season by season — the shape of each career against the other.
GOAT pace tracker
Career stage · GOAT pace
Through season 5 · Titles per season| Ghost race · career day | 30 | 100 | 365 | 1000 | 1825 | 3650 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 🇨🇳 Cai | 0 | 0 | 50 | 112 | 368 | 653 |
| 🇨🇳 Ma Lin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 12 | 29 |
Careers are aligned at debut, so a rookie's first 5 seasons are measured against the same window in a legend's career — Yamal against Messi at the same age-stage, a tour rookie against Tiger Woods in 1996.
| Metric | CaiRetired | Ma LinRetired |
|---|---|---|
| World team titles | 4 | — |
| World doubles titles | 2 | — |
| World Cup medals | 2 | — |
| Asian Championship titles | 3 | — |
| World Championship medals | 8 | — |
| Olympic golds | — | 3 |
| World Cup titles | — | 4 |
| World Championship team golds | — | 5 |
| Olympic singles titles | — | 1 |
| Career ranking weeks at No. 1 | — | 30 |
| Dominance w25% | 86 | 86 |
| Peak w20% | 92 | 92 |
| Longevity w20% | 76 | 80 |
| Honours w20% | 90 | 88 |
| Statistics w15% | 88 | 86 |
Fan vote — data vs the people
What do you think?
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