best player

Who's the best table tennis player in history?


  • Total voters
    67
This user has no status.
This user has no status.
Member
Oct 2010
34
2
37
38
Who's the best TT player in history ?
I think Wang Liqin .
if you want to say : waldner ... I tell you NO
because Wang Liqin won Waldner in 2004 Athens Olympics. ( 4-1 )
 

Attachments

  • _er_7572_Large.jpg
    _er_7572_Large.jpg
    84.8 KB · Views: 118
Last edited:
This user has no status.
This user has no status.
Member
Oct 2010
434
4
335
Are you kidding me? :D
2004?!
WLQ was in his prime there and Waldner already was an old man ;) (which didn't prevent him from beating Ma Lin and Timo)
I picked Waldner 'cause nobody will ever reach him in terms of feeling and witty playfulness!
 

This user has no status.
C

This user has no status.
Guest
waldner was well past he prime in 2004 waldner is quite simpily best ever
 
This user has no status.
This user has no status.
Member
Nov 2010
266
2
67
Wang Liqin, you can't really compare though, these players are all from different eras... Waldner was probably one of the best in his era, but Wang Liqin was definitely the best in his.
 
says 2010/11 British League Premier Division Champions &...
says 2010/11 British League Premier Division Champions &...
Member
Jan 2011
29
1
72
Why is this under the 'England' forum section? Surely we should be voting on the best English players?
 
says ok, I will go back and make sure you have access. Be...
says ok, I will go back and make sure you have access. Be...
Well-Known Member
Nov 2010
3,568
5,931
10,356
Read 8 reviews
C'mon guys. It can't be just because the look pretty, it has to be based on accomplishments. It has to be someone who has won the world championships more than once. It would be good if there was an Olympic gold in there too. Therefore it can't be Ma Long, or Timo Boll, who have never won anything significant and therefore rank below Jorgen Persson (one world championship), or Ma Lin (who has an Olympic gold but no world championship but the greatest #2 player in history) or RSM (one Olympics, nothing since). The only three on that list one should be arguing about are Waldner, Wang LQ, and Wang Hao. You could make a strong case for any of them. Each of them have been unbeatable in their prime. WLQ and WH were actually more unbeatable than Waldner when each were in their prime, but Waldner was a more creative player. Kong Linghui and Liu Guoliang should also be on the list, ahead of any of these other guys. If I was a betting man I would bet that the next world champion will again be Wang Hao, who it is east to forget is the defending world champion (twice).
 
says ok, I will go back and make sure you have access. Be...
says ok, I will go back and make sure you have access. Be...
Well-Known Member
Nov 2010
3,568
5,931
10,356
Read 8 reviews
Joo Se Hyuk clearly the greatest defender of modern table tennis (which we could say is from around 1969-present), but winner of none of the really prized international competitions (World Championships, Olympics, World Cup). But at least a finalist. Everybody else mentioned, all great players, all fun to watch, but not in the same league as Waldner, Wang Hao and WLQ. Schlager, won of my favorite players, a classy human being, hit the big time once. Regarding Kreanga, I am wondering if he has won even a single ITTF pro tour tournament? None immediately come to my mind.
 

Dan

says editing a big TTD Team episode... stay tuned 👀

Dan

says editing a big TTD Team episode... stay tuned 👀
Well-Known Member
Administrator
Aug 2010
7,079
4,755
16,880
Read 72 reviews
C'mon guys. It can't be just because the look pretty, it has to be based on accomplishments. It has to be someone who has won the world championships more than once. It would be good if there was an Olympic gold in there too. Therefore it can't be Ma Long, or Timo Boll, who have never won anything significant and therefore rank below Jorgen Persson (one world championship), or Ma Lin (who has an Olympic gold but no world championship but the greatest #2 player in history) or RSM (one Olympics, nothing since). The only three on that list one should be arguing about are Waldner, Wang LQ, and Wang Hao. You could make a strong case for any of them. Each of them have been unbeatable in their prime. WLQ and WH were actually more unbeatable than Waldner when each were in their prime, but Waldner was a more creative player. Kong Linghui and Liu Guoliang should also be on the list, ahead of any of these other guys. If I was a betting man I would bet that the next world champion will again be Wang Hao, who it is east to forget is the defending world champion (twice).

Very valid points ther Baal! i think i should change the poll... I forgot about Kong and Liu ha :)

Yeah WH and WQ in there primes were unstoppable!!
 
This user has no status.
This user has no status.
Member
Nov 2010
79
0
80
Ofcourse Jan Ove Waldner is the best player in the history! :) I love his personality and his playstyle!
And who can forgett his pokerface? :)
 
says ok, I will go back and make sure you have access. Be...
says ok, I will go back and make sure you have access. Be...
Well-Known Member
Nov 2010
3,568
5,931
10,356
Read 8 reviews
The only legitimate reason to rank Waldner above Wang LQ or Wang Hao is a question of who he had to beat to win his championships. In his day, he had to beat the usual number of amazing Chinese players (which started with Jiang Jialiang and included Kong, Wang Tao, Liu Guoliang, and even Ma Lin). But in addition, he had to contend with a much tougher generation of European players than there is now. Think about who the European players were that are about the same age he is; Persson, Gatien, Saive, Korbel, Primoracs, Kalinic, Grubba, young Samsonov, young Schlager, a somewhat older Appelgren, and many others, much tougher comparably than the European players of today. On the other hand, he never dominated the sport as completely as Wang Liqin and, Wang Hao have for stretches of years. Waldner did not always play that well in ordinary ITTF events and he was capable of losing to lower ranked people in a way that never happened with Wang Liqin or Wang Hao when they were having their runs. You could also talk about Waldner's innovations in the game, especially serving, returning serve, tactics, etc. But who before Wang Liqin ever played with that much power from both sides, and what penholder before or since has had a backhand and a return of serve like Wang Hao?

It has to come down to those three, but like I said, there is no one obviously correct answer.
 
This user has no status.
This user has no status.
Member
Nov 2010
185
1
187
I gave Ryu a vote because, 1 Kim Taek Soo is awesome, but he never won anything and Ryu is his student who got the gold at Athens 2004.

I've watched a few amazing jpenners close up (2550+ USATT) and it is just amazing that they can keep up with only their forehand loop. Sure it's not that they don't have a backhand, but the required footwork to compete at the same level is just ridiculous. So, for Ryu to be as succesful as he is, kudos. (Of course, this respect is for jpenners in the modern game of TT, not back in the 38mm when it worked a little better because 3rd ball attack was everything).
 
Top