GOAT Rank · 117

Greatest retired Table Tennis Players

This ranking is led by Jan-Ove Waldner, Viktor Barna and Deng Yaping. GOAT Rank currently ranks 117 eligible Table Tennis players using verified career records across dominance, peak, longevity, honours and statistics.

Quick answer

According to GOAT Rank's current model, Jan-Ove Waldner ranks #1 on this list with a GOAT Score of 94.1.

How the GOAT Score is calculated →

#AthleteGOAT Score

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

Viktor Barna

93.6

Sport: Table Tennis
Career: 1929–1954
Country: 🇭🇺 Hungary

Peak: 96.0
Dominance: 94.0
Statistics: 94.0
Honours: 96.0
Longevity: 88.0

Athlete: Viktor Barna

Deng Yaping

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

Ding Ning

89.7

Sport: Table Tennis
Career: 2005–2021
Country: 🇨🇳 China

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

Athlete: Ding Ning

Wang Tao

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

Guo Yan

87.4

Sport: Table Tennis
Career: 2001–2012
Country: 🇨🇳 China

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

Athlete: Guo Yan

Chen Jing

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

Guo Yuehua

86.5

Sport: Table Tennis
Career: 1977–1985
Country: 🇨🇳 China

Peak: 96.0
Dominance: 90.0
Statistics: 88.0
Honours: 90.0
Longevity: 68.0

Athlete: Guo Yuehua

Ma Lin

86.4

Sport: Table Tennis
Career: 1998–2013
Country: 🇨🇳 China

Peak: 92.0
Dominance: 86.0
Statistics: 86.0
Honours: 88.0
Longevity: 80.0

Athlete: Ma Lin

Cai Zhenhua

86.3

Sport: Table Tennis
Career: 1979–1989
Country: 🇨🇳 China

Peak: 92.0
Dominance: 86.0
Statistics: 88.0
Honours: 90.0
Longevity: 76.0

Athlete: Cai Zhenhua

Kalinikos Kreanga

85.6

Sport: Table Tennis
Career: 1990–2016
Country: 🇬🇷 Greece

Peak: 90.0
Dominance: 80.0
Statistics: 88.0
Honours: 80.0
Longevity: 92.0

Athlete: Kalinikos Kreanga

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

Qiao Hong

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

Li Jie

85.2

Sport: Table Tennis
Career: 2000–2021
Country: 🇳🇱 Netherlands

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

Athlete: Li Jie

Chen Qi

85.1

Sport: Table Tennis
Career: 1999–2013
Country: 🇨🇳 China

Peak: 90.0
Dominance: 84.0
Statistics: 86.0
Honours: 88.0
Longevity: 78.0

Athlete: Chen Qi

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

Zoran Primorac

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

Jun Mizutani

84.9

Sport: Table Tennis
Career: 2003–2021
Country: 🇯🇵 Japan

Peak: 90.0
Dominance: 80.0
Statistics: 86.0
Honours: 84.0
Longevity: 86.0

Athlete: Jun Mizutani

Yu Mengyu

84.8

Sport: Table Tennis
Career: 2008–2021
Country: 🇸🇬 Singapore

Peak: 90.0
Dominance: 80.0
Statistics: 88.0
Honours: 84.0
Longevity: 84.0

Athlete: Yu Mengyu

Ryu Seung-min

84.7

Sport: Table Tennis
Career: 1999–2014
Country: 🇰🇷 South Korea

Peak: 92.0
Dominance: 82.0
Statistics: 84.0
Honours: 86.0
Longevity: 80.0

Athlete: Ryu Seung-min

Werner Schlager

84.6

Sport: Table Tennis
Career: 1990–2015
Country: 🇦🇹 Austria

Peak: 92.0
Dominance: 80.0
Statistics: 84.0
Honours: 82.0
Longevity: 86.0

Athlete: Werner Schlager

Joo Se-hyuk

84.6

Sport: Table Tennis
Career: 1998–2020
Country: 🇰🇷 South Korea

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

Athlete: Joo Se-hyuk

Elmira Antonyan

84.6

Sport: Table Tennis
Career: 1968–1979
Country: 🇦🇲 Armenia

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

Athlete: Elmira Antonyan

Jiang Jialiang

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

Tamara Boroš

84.5

Sport: Table Tennis
Career: 1993–2012
Country: 🇭🇷 Croatia

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

Athlete: Tamara Boroš

István Jónyer

84.4

Sport: Table Tennis
Career: 1969–1983
Country: 🇭🇺 Hungary

Peak: 92.0
Dominance: 82.0
Statistics: 82.0
Honours: 86.0
Longevity: 80.0

Athlete: István Jónyer

Chen Longcan

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

Yang Young-ja

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

Zhuang Zedong

84.2

Sport: Table Tennis
Career: 1959–1972
Country: 🇨🇳 China

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

Athlete: Zhuang Zedong

Cao Yanhua

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

István Boros

84.1

Sport: Table Tennis
Career: 1975–1988
Country: 🇭🇺 Hungary

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

Athlete: István Boros

Yoo Nam-kyu

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

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

Ma Wenge

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

Percival Bromfield

83.8

Sport: Table Tennis
Career: 1926–1935
Country: 🇬🇧 United Kingdom

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

Athlete: Percival Bromfield

Li Jiao

83.7

Sport: Table Tennis
Career: 1996–2020
Country: 🇳🇱 Netherlands

Peak: 88.0
Dominance: 78.0
Statistics: 84.0
Honours: 80.0
Longevity: 90.0

Athlete: Li Jiao

Anatoly Amelin

83.7

Sport: Table Tennis
Career: 1962–1974
Country: 🇷🇺 Russia

Peak: 90.0
Dominance: 80.0
Statistics: 86.0
Honours: 84.0
Longevity: 80.0

Athlete: Anatoly Amelin

Kim Kyung-ah

83.6

Sport: Table Tennis
Career: 1995–2012
Country: 🇰🇷 South Korea

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

Athlete: Kim Kyung-ah

Pinkie Barnes

83.6

Sport: Table Tennis
Career: 1933–1951
Country: 🇬🇧 United Kingdom

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

Athlete: Pinkie Barnes

Žarko Dolinar

83.4

Sport: Table Tennis
Career: 1946–1957
Country: 🇭🇷 Croatia

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

Athlete: Žarko Dolinar

Viktoria Pavlovich

83.3

Sport: Table Tennis
Career: 1996–2016
Country: 🇧🇾 Belarus

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

Athlete: Viktoria Pavlovich

Bai Yang

83.3

Sport: Table Tennis
Career: 1998–2008
Country: 🇨🇳 China

Peak: 90.0
Dominance: 80.0
Statistics: 86.0
Honours: 84.0
Longevity: 78.0

Athlete: Bai Yang

Zoltán Bubonyi

83.2

Sport: Table Tennis
Career: 1977–1990
Country: 🇭🇺 Hungary

Peak: 88.0
Dominance: 78.0
Statistics: 86.0
Honours: 84.0
Longevity: 82.0

Athlete: Zoltán Bubonyi

Ai Fukuhara

83.1

Sport: Table Tennis
Career: 1998–2018
Country: 🇯🇵 Japan

Peak: 86.0
Dominance: 76.0
Statistics: 86.0
Honours: 82.0
Longevity: 88.0

Athlete: Ai Fukuhara

Jörg Rosskopf

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

Tong Ling

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

Wu Jiaduo

82.9

Sport: Table Tennis
Career: 2000–2016
Country: 🇩🇪 Germany

Peak: 90.0
Dominance: 78.0
Statistics: 84.0
Honours: 80.0
Longevity: 84.0

Athlete: Wu Jiaduo

Nicole Struse

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

Cheng Hongxia

82.9

Sport: Table Tennis
Career: 1996–2006
Country: 🇨🇳 China

Peak: 90.0
Dominance: 80.0
Statistics: 86.0
Honours: 84.0
Longevity: 76.0

Athlete: Cheng Hongxia

Stellan Bengtsson

82.8

Sport: Table Tennis
Career: 1968–1985
Country: 🇸🇪 Sweden

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

Athlete: Stellan Bengtsson

#	Athlete	Sport	Country	Career	GOAT Score
2	Jan-Ove Waldner	Table Tennis	🇸🇪 Sweden	1980–2016	94.1
3	Viktor Barna	Table Tennis	🇭🇺 Hungary	1929–1954	93.6
4	Deng Yaping	Table Tennis	🇨🇳 China	1988–1997	91.4
5	Ding Ning	Table Tennis	🇨🇳 China	2005–2021	89.7
7	Wang Tao	Table Tennis	🇨🇳 China	1989–1999	87.4
8	Guo Yan	Table Tennis	🇨🇳 China	2001–2012	87.4
9	Chen Jing	Table Tennis	🇹🇼 Chinese Taipei	1986–2001	87.0
10	Guo Yuehua	Table Tennis	🇨🇳 China	1977–1985	86.5
11	Ma Lin	Table Tennis	🇨🇳 China	1998–2013	86.4
12	Cai Zhenhua	Table Tennis	🇨🇳 China	1979–1989	86.3
15	Kalinikos Kreanga	Table Tennis	🇬🇷 Greece	1990–2016	85.6
16	Otilia Bădescu	Table Tennis	🇷🇴 Romania	1986–2008	85.3
17	Qiao Hong	Table Tennis	🇨🇳 China	1986–1997	85.2
18	Li Jie	Table Tennis	🇳🇱 Netherlands	2000–2021	85.2
19	Chen Qi	Table Tennis	🇨🇳 China	1999–2013	85.1
20	Jean-Michel Saive	Table Tennis	🇧🇪 Belgium	1986–2014	85.0
21	Zoran Primorac	Table Tennis	🇭🇷 Croatia	1985–2012	85.0
22	Jun Mizutani	Table Tennis	🇯🇵 Japan	2003–2021	84.9
25	Yu Mengyu	Table Tennis	🇸🇬 Singapore	2008–2021	84.8
26	Ryu Seung-min	Table Tennis	🇰🇷 South Korea	1999–2014	84.7
27	Werner Schlager	Table Tennis	🇦🇹 Austria	1990–2015	84.6
28	Joo Se-hyuk	Table Tennis	🇰🇷 South Korea	1998–2020	84.6
29	Elmira Antonyan	Table Tennis	🇦🇲 Armenia	1968–1979	84.6
30	Jiang Jialiang	Table Tennis	🇨🇳 China	1982–1990	84.5
31	Tamara Boroš	Table Tennis	🇭🇷 Croatia	1993–2012	84.5
32	István Jónyer	Table Tennis	🇭🇺 Hungary	1969–1983	84.4
33	Chen Longcan	Table Tennis	🇨🇳 China	1984–1991	84.3
34	Yang Young-ja	Table Tennis	🇰🇷 South Korea	1983–1990	84.3
35	Zhuang Zedong	Table Tennis	🇨🇳 China	1959–1972	84.2
37	Cao Yanhua	Table Tennis	🇨🇳 China	1980–1987	84.1
38	István Boros	Table Tennis	🇭🇺 Hungary	1975–1988	84.1
39	Yoo Nam-kyu	Table Tennis	🇰🇷 South Korea	1985–1996	84.0
40	Jean-Philippe Gatien	Table Tennis	🇫🇷 France	1985–2000	83.9
41	Ma Wenge	Table Tennis	🇨🇳 China	1988–1997	83.8
42	Percival Bromfield	Table Tennis	🇬🇧 United Kingdom	1926–1935	83.8
43	Li Jiao	Table Tennis	🇳🇱 Netherlands	1996–2020	83.7
44	Anatoly Amelin	Table Tennis	🇷🇺 Russia	1962–1974	83.7
45	Kim Kyung-ah	Table Tennis	🇰🇷 South Korea	1995–2012	83.6
46	Pinkie Barnes	Table Tennis	🇬🇧 United Kingdom	1933–1951	83.6
49	Žarko Dolinar	Table Tennis	🇭🇷 Croatia	1946–1957	83.4
50	Viktoria Pavlovich	Table Tennis	🇧🇾 Belarus	1996–2016	83.3
51	Bai Yang	Table Tennis	🇨🇳 China	1998–2008	83.3
52	Zoltán Bubonyi	Table Tennis	🇭🇺 Hungary	1977–1990	83.2
53	Ai Fukuhara	Table Tennis	🇯🇵 Japan	1998–2018	83.1
54	Jörg Rosskopf	Table Tennis	🇩🇪 Germany	1986–2004	83.1
56	Tong Ling	Table Tennis	🇨🇳 China	1987–1993	83.0
57	Wu Jiaduo	Table Tennis	🇩🇪 Germany	2000–2016	82.9
58	Nicole Struse	Table Tennis	🇩🇪 Germany	1989–2006	82.9
59	Cheng Hongxia	Table Tennis	🇨🇳 China	1996–2006	82.9
60	Stellan Bengtsson	Table Tennis	🇸🇪 Sweden	1968–1985	82.8

Compare the leaders

Jan-Ove Waldner vs Viktor Barna

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?

According to GOAT Rank's current data model, only verified athletes with sufficient career history, metrics, honours and independent sources are eligible. Rank and score are read live.

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