GOAT Rank · 32

Greatest Table Tennis athletes of the 1980s

This ranking uses verified career records and GOAT Rank's published model. Every listed athlete clears the data eligibility threshold.

#AthleteGOAT Score

2

Jan-Ove Waldner

94.1

Sport: Table Tennis
Career: 1980–2016
Country: 🇸🇪 Sweden

Peak: 97.0
Dominance: 93.0
Statistics: 92.0
Honours: 90.0
Longevity: 98.0

Athlete: Jan-Ove Waldner

4

91.4

Sport: Table Tennis
Career: 1988–1997
Country: 🇨🇳 China

Peak: 97.0
Dominance: 97.0
Statistics: 94.0
Honours: 94.0
Longevity: 74.0

Athlete: Deng Yaping

7

87.4

Sport: Table Tennis
Career: 1989–1999
Country: 🇨🇳 China

Peak: 94.0
Dominance: 86.0
Statistics: 90.0
Honours: 90.0
Longevity: 78.0

Athlete: Wang Tao

9

87.0

Sport: Table Tennis
Career: 1986–2001
Country: 🇹🇼 Chinese Taipei

Peak: 94.0
Dominance: 84.0
Statistics: 88.0
Honours: 88.0
Longevity: 82.0

Athlete: Chen Jing

13

86.2

Sport: Table Tennis
Career: 1983–active
Country: 🇱🇺 Luxembourg

Peak: 88.0
Dominance: 80.0
Statistics: 84.0
Honours: 84.0
Longevity: 96.0

Athlete: Ni Xialian

16

Otilia Bădescu

85.3

Sport: Table Tennis
Career: 1986–2008
Country: 🇷🇴 Romania

Peak: 90.0
Dominance: 80.0
Statistics: 86.0
Honours: 82.0
Longevity: 90.0

Athlete: Otilia Bădescu

17

85.2

Sport: Table Tennis
Career: 1986–1997
Country: 🇨🇳 China

Peak: 92.0
Dominance: 84.0
Statistics: 84.0
Honours: 90.0
Longevity: 76.0

Athlete: Qiao Hong

20

Jean-Michel Saive

85.0

Sport: Table Tennis
Career: 1986–2014
Country: 🇧🇪 Belgium

Peak: 90.0
Dominance: 78.0
Statistics: 82.0
Honours: 82.0
Longevity: 94.0

Athlete: Jean-Michel Saive

21

85.0

Sport: Table Tennis
Career: 1985–2012
Country: 🇭🇷 Croatia

Peak: 90.0
Dominance: 78.0
Statistics: 82.0
Honours: 82.0
Longevity: 94.0

Athlete: Zoran Primorac

30

84.5

Sport: Table Tennis
Career: 1982–1990
Country: 🇨🇳 China

Peak: 94.0
Dominance: 88.0
Statistics: 86.0
Honours: 88.0
Longevity: 66.0

Athlete: Jiang Jialiang

33

84.3

Sport: Table Tennis
Career: 1984–1991
Country: 🇨🇳 China

Peak: 92.0
Dominance: 84.0
Statistics: 86.0
Honours: 88.0
Longevity: 72.0

Athlete: Chen Longcan

34

84.3

Sport: Table Tennis
Career: 1983–1990
Country: 🇰🇷 South Korea

Peak: 94.0
Dominance: 84.0
Statistics: 86.0
Honours: 88.0
Longevity: 70.0

Athlete: Yang Young-ja

37

84.1

Sport: Table Tennis
Career: 1980–1987
Country: 🇨🇳 China

Peak: 92.0
Dominance: 86.0
Statistics: 84.0
Honours: 88.0
Longevity: 70.0

Athlete: Cao Yanhua

39

84.0

Sport: Table Tennis
Career: 1985–1996
Country: 🇰🇷 South Korea

Peak: 92.0
Dominance: 82.0
Statistics: 82.0
Honours: 86.0
Longevity: 78.0

Athlete: Yoo Nam-kyu

40

Jean-Philippe Gatien

83.9

Sport: Table Tennis
Career: 1985–2000
Country: 🇫🇷 France

Peak: 90.0
Dominance: 82.0
Statistics: 84.0
Honours: 84.0
Longevity: 80.0

Athlete: Jean-Philippe Gatien

41

83.8

Sport: Table Tennis
Career: 1988–1997
Country: 🇨🇳 China

Peak: 90.0
Dominance: 82.0
Statistics: 86.0
Honours: 86.0
Longevity: 76.0

Athlete: Ma Wenge

54

83.1

Sport: Table Tennis
Career: 1986–2004
Country: 🇩🇪 Germany

Peak: 88.0
Dominance: 78.0
Statistics: 80.0
Honours: 84.0
Longevity: 86.0

Athlete: Jörg Rosskopf

56

83.0

Sport: Table Tennis
Career: 1987–1993
Country: 🇨🇳 China

Peak: 92.0
Dominance: 82.0
Statistics: 86.0
Honours: 86.0
Longevity: 70.0

Athlete: Tong Ling

58

82.9

Sport: Table Tennis
Career: 1989–2006
Country: 🇩🇪 Germany

Peak: 88.0
Dominance: 78.0
Statistics: 84.0
Honours: 80.0
Longevity: 86.0

Athlete: Nicole Struse

62

82.8

Sport: Table Tennis
Career: 1983–1994
Country: 🇨🇳 China

Peak: 92.0
Dominance: 82.0
Statistics: 82.0
Honours: 84.0
Longevity: 74.0

Athlete: He Zhili

64

82.8

Sport: Table Tennis
Career: 1987–2012
Country: 🇫🇷 France

Peak: 86.0
Dominance: 76.0
Statistics: 84.0
Honours: 78.0
Longevity: 92.0

Athlete: Damien Éloi

66

82.7

Sport: Table Tennis
Career: 1988–2004
Country: 🇰🇷 South Korea

Peak: 88.0
Dominance: 78.0
Statistics: 80.0
Honours: 82.0
Longevity: 86.0

Athlete: Kim Taek-soo

68

82.6

Sport: Table Tennis
Career: 1983–active
Country: 🇱🇺 Luxembourg

Peak: 84.0
Dominance: 74.0
Statistics: 78.0
Honours: 80.0
Longevity: 98.0

Athlete: Ni Xia Lian

75

Csilla Bátorfi

82.0

Sport: Table Tennis
Career: 1984–2008
Country: 🇭🇺 Hungary

Peak: 85.0
Dominance: 76.0
Statistics: 80.0
Honours: 82.0
Longevity: 88.0

Athlete: Csilla Bátorfi

98

80.5

Sport: Table Tennis
Career: 1983–1992
Country: 🇨🇳 China

Peak: 90.0
Dominance: 78.0
Statistics: 84.0
Honours: 82.0
Longevity: 70.0

Athlete: Chen Zhibin

99

Ilija Lupulesku

80.5

Sport: Table Tennis
Career: 1983–2008
Country: 🇷🇸 Yugoslavia

Peak: 86.0
Dominance: 74.0
Statistics: 80.0
Honours: 80.0
Longevity: 84.0

Athlete: Ilija Lupulesku

110

79.8

Sport: Table Tennis
Career: 1982–1996
Country: 🇸🇪 Sweden

Peak: 86.0
Dominance: 74.0
Statistics: 78.0
Honours: 82.0
Longevity: 80.0

Athlete: Erik Lindh

116

79.2

Sport: Table Tennis
Career: 1983–1994
Country: 🇰🇷 South Korea

Peak: 86.0
Dominance: 78.0
Statistics: 78.0
Honours: 80.0
Longevity: 74.0

Athlete: Hyun Jung-hwa

126

78.4

Sport: Table Tennis
Career: 1984–2018
Country: 🇪🇸 Spain

Peak: 80.0
Dominance: 70.0
Statistics: 78.0
Honours: 74.0
Longevity: 92.0

Athlete: He Zhiwen

143

77.2

Sport: Table Tennis
Career: 1988–2012
Country: 🇨🇿 Czech Republic

Peak: 80.0
Dominance: 70.0
Statistics: 78.0
Honours: 72.0
Longevity: 88.0

Athlete: Petr Korbel

145

Jörgen Persson

77.0

Sport: Table Tennis
Career: 1982–2011
Country: 🇸🇪 Sweden

Peak: 80.0
Dominance: 70.0
Statistics: 74.0
Honours: 74.0
Longevity: 88.0

Athlete: Jörgen Persson

174

70.1

Sport: Table Tennis
Career: 1984–2009
Country: 🇸🇪 Sweden

Peak: 74.0
Dominance: 62.0
Statistics: 68.0
Honours: 66.0
Longevity: 82.0

Athlete: Peter Karlsson

#	Athlete	Sport	Country	Career	GOAT Score
2	Jan-Ove Waldner	Table Tennis	🇸🇪 Sweden	1980–2016	94.1
4	Deng Yaping	Table Tennis	🇨🇳 China	1988–1997	91.4
7	Wang Tao	Table Tennis	🇨🇳 China	1989–1999	87.4
9	Chen Jing	Table Tennis	🇹🇼 Chinese Taipei	1986–2001	87
13	Ni Xialian	Table Tennis	🇱🇺 Luxembourg	1983–—	86.2
16	Otilia Bădescu	Table Tennis	🇷🇴 Romania	1986–2008	85.3
17	Qiao Hong	Table Tennis	🇨🇳 China	1986–1997	85.2
20	Jean-Michel Saive	Table Tennis	🇧🇪 Belgium	1986–2014	85
21	Zoran Primorac	Table Tennis	🇭🇷 Croatia	1985–2012	85
30	Jiang Jialiang	Table Tennis	🇨🇳 China	1982–1990	84.5
33	Chen Longcan	Table Tennis	🇨🇳 China	1984–1991	84.3
34	Yang Young-ja	Table Tennis	🇰🇷 South Korea	1983–1990	84.3
37	Cao Yanhua	Table Tennis	🇨🇳 China	1980–1987	84.1
39	Yoo Nam-kyu	Table Tennis	🇰🇷 South Korea	1985–1996	84
40	Jean-Philippe Gatien	Table Tennis	🇫🇷 France	1985–2000	83.9
41	Ma Wenge	Table Tennis	🇨🇳 China	1988–1997	83.8
54	Jörg Rosskopf	Table Tennis	🇩🇪 Germany	1986–2004	83.1
56	Tong Ling	Table Tennis	🇨🇳 China	1987–1993	83
58	Nicole Struse	Table Tennis	🇩🇪 Germany	1989–2006	82.9
62	He Zhili	Table Tennis	🇨🇳 China	1983–1994	82.8
64	Damien Éloi	Table Tennis	🇫🇷 France	1987–2012	82.8
66	Kim Taek-soo	Table Tennis	🇰🇷 South Korea	1988–2004	82.7
68	Ni Xia Lian	Table Tennis	🇱🇺 Luxembourg	1983–—	82.6
75	Csilla Bátorfi	Table Tennis	🇭🇺 Hungary	1984–2008	82
98	Chen Zhibin	Table Tennis	🇨🇳 China	1983–1992	80.5
99	Ilija Lupulesku	Table Tennis	🇷🇸 Yugoslavia	1983–2008	80.5
110	Erik Lindh	Table Tennis	🇸🇪 Sweden	1982–1996	79.8
116	Hyun Jung-hwa	Table Tennis	🇰🇷 South Korea	1983–1994	79.2
126	He Zhiwen	Table Tennis	🇪🇸 Spain	1984–2018	78.4
143	Petr Korbel	Table Tennis	🇨🇿 Czech Republic	1988–2012	77.2
145	Jörgen Persson	Table Tennis	🇸🇪 Sweden	1982–2011	77
174	Peter Karlsson	Table Tennis	🇸🇪 Sweden	1984–2009	70.1

Compare the leaders

Jan-Ove Waldner vs Deng Yaping

Read the full methodology

Sport lists use the raw In-Sport GOAT Score. Cross-sport lists use the official competition-depth adjustment. No scores are recalculated for this page.

Read the full methodology

Frequently asked questions

How is this ranking calculated?

Five verified components are weighted consistently: dominance, peak, longevity, honours and statistics.

Who is included?

Only verified athletes with sufficient career history, metrics, honours and independent sources are eligible.

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