Items21The creator’s order
  1. 1Viktor BarnaViktor BarnaBorn 24 Aug 1911Viktor Barna, from Hungary, dominated the 1930s, when bats had hard pimpled rubber and no sponge. He won five world singles titles and more than 20 world titles in all, and his attacking backhand flick, played with a quick wrist action over the table, became a standard stroke. He later settled in…0i
  2. 2Richard BergmannRichard BergmannRichard Bergmann showed that defence could win world titles. Playing far from the table with long, heavy backspin chops and the patience to wait for an error, he won the world singles title four times between 1937 and 1950, for Austria and then England. His game defined the classic defensive style…0i
  3. 3Hiroji SatohHiroji SatohBorn 3 Feb 1925Hiroji Satoh won the 1952 world singles title in Bombay as an unknown, using a bat covered in thick sponge that made the ball silent and unpredictable. Opponents used to hard rubber could not read it. His win started the sponge era and led the ITTF to set limits on rubber thickness, one of the most…0i
  4. 4Ichiro OgimuraIchiro OgimuraBorn 25 Jun 1932Ichiro Ogimura turned the sponge bat into a complete attacking system. A penhold player, he built his game on a powerful forehand and fast, constant footwork so that he could hit forehands from almost anywhere, and he won the world singles title in 1954 and 1956. Later, as an administrator and ITTF…0i
  5. 5Zhuang ZedongZhuang ZedongBorn 25 Aug 1940Zhuang Zedong introduced the Chinese close-to-the-table fast attack: a penhold grip, quick hitting off the bounce and two-sided attack that rushed defenders. He won three consecutive world singles titles, in 1961, 1963 and 1965, establishing the style that made China the leading nation. In 1971 his…0i
  6. 6Jan-Ove WaldnerJan-Ove WaldnerBorn 3 Oct 1965Jan-Ove Waldner, often called the Mozart of table tennis, made the all-round game an art. His serves were famously hard to read, and he could change from blocking to looping to touch shots within a rally, beating the Chinese attackers by thinking faster. He won world titles in 1989 and 1997 and…0i
  7. 7Timo BollTimo BollBorn 8 Mar 1981Timo Boll, a left-hander, was Europe's leading player for two decades, with heavy spin, exceptional ball control and a calm reading of the game. He was world number one in 2003 and, remarkably, again in 2018 at 37, the oldest man to hold the top ranking. He adapted to the larger ball and the…0i
  8. 8Liu GuoliangLiu GuoliangBorn 10 Jan 1976Liu Guoliang was one of the first penhold players to use the reverse penhold backhand, hitting with the back of the bat to produce a topspin backhand instead of the traditional push or block. It removed the penhold grip's biggest weakness. He won Olympic gold in 1996 and the 1999 world title, and…0i
  9. 9Wang Hao (table tennis, born 1983)Wang Hao (table tennis, born 1983)Born 15 Dec 1983Wang Hao made the reverse penhold backhand a full attacking weapon, looping with it as hard as many shakehand players do. With it he won the 2009 world singles title and three Olympic singles silver medals, and the stroke became standard for modern penhold players. His matches show how one…0i
  10. 10Vladimir SamsonovVladimir SamsonovBorn 17 Apr 1976Vladimir Samsonov of Belarus played a smooth, economical shakehand game built on placement and timing rather than raw power, which helped him stay near the top across several equipment changes. He won the World Cup three times and was world number one, and he competed at seven Olympic Games. His…0i