Who is better, Ma Long or Barnes?
Ma Long leads with a GOAT score of 97.3 against 83.6 for Pinkie Barnes — a gap of 13.7 points on GOAT Rank's weighted model.
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Ma Long vs Barnes
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Quick answer
GOAT Rank currently ranks Ma Long above Pinkie Barnes: 97.3 vs 83.6. Ma Long leads on Dominance, Honours, Peak.
How the GOAT Score is calculated →GOAT verdictgoatrank.world
Ma LongWinner
97.3Ma Long wins: Dominance, Peak, Longevity, Honours, Statistics
Barnes
83.6Barnes wins: no category outright
Candidates
Locked to Table TennisShareable URL · /compare/ma-long-vs-pinkie-barnes
Time range
Showing full careers. Pick a window to recalculate the selected period.
Category radar
Verdict
Weighted GOAT score
🇨🇳 Ma Long
97.3
Ma Long leads in 5 of 5 weighted categories.
1. Ma Long
2. Pinkie Barnes
Category breakdown
Season form · Form index per season
Career timeline · Form index per season
Cumulative output season by season — the shape of each career against the other.
GOAT pace tracker
Through age 21 · Form index per season
1. 🇨🇳 Ma Long7 titles
2 seasons by age 21 · 3.5 per season
Setting the pace at age 21
No verified birth date for Barnes — shown in the pro-debut view instead.
Every career is cut at the season the athlete turned 21, so a rookie today is measured against exactly what a legend had banked by the same birthday.
| Metric | Ma LongActive | BarnesRetired |
|---|---|---|
| Olympic golds | 6 | — |
| World singles titles | 3 | — |
| World Cup titles | 3 | — |
| Olympic medals | 6 | — |
| Months at world No. 1 | 64 | — |
| Grand Slam completed | 1 | — |
| World Championship medals | — | 3 |
| English titles | — | 4 |
| World Championship appearances | — | 8 |
| Corbillon Cup appearances | — | 6 |
| Seasons on the national team | — | 18 |
| Dominance w25% | 99 | 78 |
| Peak w20% | 99 | 88 |
| Longevity w20% | 92 | 84 |
| Honours w20% | 99 | 84 |
| Statistics w15% | 97 | 86 |
Fan vote — data vs the people
GOAT Rank · the data
Ma Long97.3
Barnes83.6
FAQ
Where does Barnes beat Ma Long?
Barnes does not lead any of the five categories; Ma Long is ahead or level on all of them.
How is the Ma Long vs Barnes score calculated?
Both are scored on peak, dominance, honours, statistics, longevity within their sport. Ma Long: 97.3, Barnes: 83.6.
What do you think?
0 commentsMake your case for Ma Long vs Barnes. The scoring is published in full — if you can point at the pillar or the weight you disagree with, we read it. Read the methodology paper.