Waldner is a god! No joke

[Dan]

What made this man so good? sheer talent?

Check out this great vid of Waldner's best moments!

Maybe your opinoin is that he is not the best player ever... whats your view?, post below

 

true genius

 

[jmech!]

amazingly amazing waldner is definently the BEST!!

 

[zookato]

Thanx Dan, u always Great

 

[ge0rge]

Great video! His tactic is fabulous !

 

[Boomerang]

I think it is a close one between JO and Wang Hao.
JO because he has an amazing touch and was maybe the first player in the world who developed a killer backhand topspin. This was one of the reasons, he could do well against penholder players.
Wang Hao developed the killer backhand for penholder players and equals the balance of power between penholder and shakehand again. After the 2004 Olympics in Athen, where he lost in the final against Ryu Sun Min, he was crucified by the press in china and had a really hard time.(I think he had some alcohol problems, hadn't he?) He raises from the ashes and from october 2007 till december 2009 he was worlds numero uno. So I think it's quiet hard to compare a swedisch guy for whom the sun always shines and a chinese sportsmen who really had some cloudy days but made it through anyhow. Best ever Waldner vs. best ever Wang Hao (maybe the one from the WTTC 2009) would be a close match.

 

[DKPOWA]

It´s simple, Waldner existed as a player during a special era of table tennis. He particularly added to the history of table tennis both his "joga bonito" and killer shots.
I bet that top rated players can do both to some extent, but neither of them with his proficiency nor his frequency, the nearest second to him would be another european player, you know who... Werner Schlager
Nowadays, there is almost no place for the "joga bonito", since everybody has studied Waldner´s moves, so there is no longer the surprise factor in it´s favor. Also TT is focused on getting as fast as it can, so there is no room for tricky shots, without the risky of getting a uber shot
So even though Waldner is really the greatest player ever to live in TT history, he was a pioneer that showed us a new style, but because of being something that can be learnt we shouldnt be a surprise that from time to time, a gifted player could play like he did in his prime, or even excel in other aspect like: Wang LiQin, Werner Schlager to some extent, Ma Lin, Oh Sang Eun to name some.

 

[Dave Cochrane]

oh yes without a doubt Jan Ove Waldner is the best ever by far - a truly unique player in a league of his own you could say.
when JO Waldner was showing his talent and getting to the top the fact is he re-invented shots that nobody had seen and even more so at that level had the guts to pull them off.
in fact out of all the players out there nobody has made a top chinese player look dumb founded when a ball has flown passed them more times than JO Waldner has, you can see the "what do i do look" on their faces a few times because when JO Waldner was at his peak he really was unstoppable.
A true genius who mastered crazy shots, confused his opponents with spin and guile and left his opponents never knowing what on earth could be happening next.
In 1997 at the world championships when he won the singles title he did so without losing a set all the way in the competition - now if that doesn't say "I'm the daddy" i'd like to know what does.
As a true legend in table tennis what i always liked was his cheekiness on the table to try things and basically he just made it look so easy when he beat many top players.
definitely a new generation player of his time and for me timo boll is the new generation player now with perhaps wang hao and ma long looking very dangerous.

 

the best of the best, forever

 

[pingpongmannen]

The best player ever and forever! I can watch this video over and over again without getting bored Love This video!

 

[Tek101]

The best player ever and forever! I can watch this video over and over again without getting bored Love This video!

I concur! JO is the best and he instills fear into the eyes of the empire that is China!

 

[herblord3]

yeah i agree...

 

[peter]

get real. He is no god and table tennis ain't no religion. But for his style and spirit, I'd say he's really close to the realm of god, taking ping pong to an art form. Like Bobby Fishcher, like Efren Reyez, they had unique vision and transformed something seemingly simple with their amazing touchs. Waldner has that quality and thats why we idolize and respect him like a ... god!

 

[pingpongmannen]

Guess what, I'm going to watch this video again now

 

[vader]

Yes he is the best and he owned the 38mm era and then some...

 

[lgreggs]

Waldner is an absolute hero! This video is immense.

 

[Dan]

Waldner is an absolute hero! This video is immense.

So true!! its really like having Jan Ove Waldner on the top floor of oceana!!

 

[jmech!]

waldner was the best because of his ability to adapt his game and he was gifted with amazing touch my coach played him a while ago and said his serves where unbelievable he felt the spin grip the bat and almost take the bat out of his hand. if waldner was at his peak today he would not be in number one spot the chinese are too good

 

[Tek101]

I wish I had a giant poster of Jan on my wall and every day when I wake up I can tell myself "Jan is here, nothing can bring me down" :-D

 

[peter]

I wish I had a giant poster of Jan on my wall and every day when I wake up I can tell myself "Jan is here, nothing can bring me down" :-D

don't worry buddy, your Justin Bieber poster will do just fine !