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Viktor Barna
Born
Viktor 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 England and played for his adopted country.
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Richard Bergmann
Richard 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 that every chopper since has built on.
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Hiroji Satoh
Born
Hiroji 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 important equipment changes in the sport.
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Ichiro Ogimura
Born
Ichiro 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 president, he helped bring China back into world table tennis.
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Zhuang Zedong
Born
Zhuang 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 meeting with the American player Glenn Cowan helped begin ping-pong diplomacy.
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Jan-Ove Waldner
Born
Jan-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 Olympic gold in 1992, and his career spanned the sponge, speed glue and 40 mm ball eras.
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Timo Boll
Born
Timo 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 plastic ball alike, played his last international event at the Paris Olympics and retired in 2025.
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Liu Guoliang
Born
Liu 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 later shaped Chinese table tennis as head coach and administrator.
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Wang Hao (table tennis, born 1983)
Born
Wang 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 technical change rescued a grip that many thought was dying.
More about Wang Hao (table tennis, born 1983)10
Vladimir Samsonov
Born
Vladimir 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 career is a lesson in efficiency for players of any age.
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Joo Sae-hyuk
Born
Joo Sae-hyuk updated defensive play for the modern game. A South Korean chopper, he defended far from the table with heavy backspin but would suddenly attack with a powerful forehand loop, so opponents could never settle. He reached the 2003 world singles final and won Olympic team medals, keeping the chopping style competitive in an era dominated by attackers.
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Zhang Jike
Born
Zhang Jike made the backhand banana flick, a sidespin topspin flick over the table, the standard way to attack short serves. That let a player take the initiative from the first ball rather than waiting to push. He completed a career Grand Slam of Olympic, World Championship and World Cup singles titles in 2012, in a famously short time.
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Ma Long
Born
Ma Long is the model of the complete modern player, and he adapted best to the plastic ball introduced in 2014, which carries less spin. He relied on footwork, a strong forehand and short, controlled play over the table. He won Olympic singles gold in 2016 and 2020 and world singles titles in 2015, 2017 and 2019, and is widely regarded as the greatest men's player.
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Fan Zhendong
Born
Fan Zhendong pushed the men's game towards backhand power. His backhand loop, hit hard from close to the table, is as dangerous as most players' forehands, and he combines it with great physical strength in fast exchanges. He won world singles titles in 2021 and 2023 and Olympic gold in Paris in 2024, completing a career Grand Slam.
More about Fan Zhendong15
Tomokazu Harimoto
Born
Tomokazu Harimoto plays almost on top of the table, taking the ball extremely early, especially on the backhand, so opponents have no time to recover. The style made him a world-class player in his early teens: he won the ITTF World Tour Grand Finals in 2018 at 15, the youngest winner. His approach shows how early timing can beat power.
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Truls Möregårdh
Born
Truls Möregårdh brought improvisation back to the top level, with unusual angles, sudden changes of rhythm and creative shots that break the patterns Chinese players drill for. The approach took him to the 2023 world singles final and Olympic silver in Paris in 2024. He shows that in a sport of drilled repetition, unpredictability is still a weapon.
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Deng Yaping
Born
Deng Yaping, about 1.5 metres tall, built a fast, aggressive game close to the table, using speed and early timing to dominate taller opponents. She won Olympic singles and doubles gold in both 1992 and 1996 and six world titles, and was world number one for eight years. Her career disproved the idea that height decided women's table tennis.
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Zhang Yining
Born
Zhang Yining brought men's-style power looping to the women's game after the switch to the larger 40 mm ball and 11-point scoring, conditions that favoured strong, consistent topspin from both wings. She won Olympic singles gold in 2004 and 2008 and was world number one for most of the decade. Her game set the template for the powerful women's play seen today.
More about Zhang Yining19
Ni Xialian
Born
Ni Xialian, born in Shanghai and representing Luxembourg, shows how unusual equipment can keep a style alive. She plays a fast, flat attacking game with pimpled rubber that changes the spin, which still confuses opponents raised on modern looping. A world champion with China in the 1980s, she was still competing at the Paris Olympics in 2024, past the age of 60.
More about Ni Xialian20
Mima Ito
Born
Mima Ito uses pimpled rubber on her backhand to hit flat, fast and with odd spin, a rare choice at the top of the modern game. That unpredictability made her one of the few players to trouble China's best regularly. She won Olympic mixed doubles gold in Tokyo with Jun Mizutani, Japan's first Olympic table tennis gold, and singles bronze at the same Games.
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Sun Yingsha
Born
Sun Yingsha represents the fastest version of the modern women's game: very quick footwork, early timing over the table and a backhand that attacks from the first ball. She won the 2023 world singles title, Olympic mixed doubles gold in Paris in 2024 with Wang Chuqin, and was unbeaten in the 2026 world team final against Japan. She is the player to watch for how speed has replaced pure spin.
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