Who is better, Ma Long or Barna?
Ma Long leads with a GOAT score of 97.3 against 93.6 for Viktor Barna — a gap of 3.7 points on GOAT Rank's weighted model.
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Ma Long vs Barna
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Quick answer
GOAT Rank currently ranks Ma Long above Viktor Barna: 97.3 vs 93.6. Ma Long leads on Dominance, Longevity, Peak.
How the GOAT Score is calculated →GOAT verdictgoatrank.world
Ma LongWinner
97.3Ma Long wins: Dominance, Peak, Longevity, Honours, Statistics
Barna
93.6Barna wins: no category outright
Candidates
Locked to Table TennisShareable URL · /compare/ma-long-vs-viktor-barna
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. Viktor Barna
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 Barna — 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 | BarnaRetired |
|---|---|---|
| Olympic golds | 6 | — |
| World singles titles | 3 | 5 |
| World Cup titles | 3 | — |
| Olympic medals | 6 | — |
| Months at world No. 1 | 64 | — |
| Grand Slam completed | 1 | — |
| World titles in all events | — | 22 |
| World team titles | — | 8 |
| English Open titles | — | 5 |
| Seasons at the top | — | 12 |
| Dominance w25% | 99 | 94 |
| Peak w20% | 99 | 96 |
| Longevity w20% | 92 | 88 |
| Honours w20% | 99 | 96 |
| Statistics w15% | 97 | 94 |
Fan vote — data vs the people
GOAT Rank · the data
Ma Long97.3
Barna93.6
FAQ
Where does Barna beat Ma Long?
Barna does not lead any of the five categories; Ma Long is ahead or level on all of them.
How is the Ma Long vs Barna score calculated?
Both are scored on peak, dominance, honours, statistics, longevity within their sport. Ma Long: 97.3, Barna: 93.6.
What do you think?
0 commentsMake your case for Ma Long vs Barna. 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.