I don't think this question has a solid premise. Ma Long is really just starting the prime of his career. He is my favorite Chinese player but you can't answer this question fairly until after the fact, so I voted Waldner, who is king until dethroned. Not many people active on TT forums actually remember farther back than the last 5-10 years or so, but WLQ was even more hyped than Ma Long coming up and had insane results, pretty much having the #1 spot and the majority of important tournaments on lockdown for a solid 8 years or so. I don't think the internet tt community for the most part have demonstrated an understanding of just how decorated WLQ's career was, which in turn pales in comparison to Waldner, who competed at the very top for THREE entire generations of Chinese players, including one generation where he led European domination. Think about that. Top Chinese pros competing against him in the late 70's early 80's were retired by the time he led the European uprising, and those players were retired by the time he was playing the likes of LGL, KLH, LGZ, and he was even still going on at a reduced (but still world class) capacity after those players retired. Its insane. Ma Long as much as I like him, is completely unproven in comparison, and needs to exceed WLQ's record of success before he can even entertain the thought of going after Waldner. Even the structure of the Chinese national team makes superceeding Waldner difficult. Ma Long will probably have to face pressures of retirement long before any EUropean player has to.