The Most Famous

TABLE TENNIS PLAYERS from China

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This page contains a list of the greatest Chinese Table Tennis Players. The pantheon dataset contains 107 Table Tennis Players, 29 of which were born in China. This makes China the birth place of the most number of Table Tennis Players.

Top 10

The following people are considered by Pantheon to be the top 10 most legendary Chinese Table Tennis Players of all time. This list of famous Chinese Table Tennis Players is sorted by HPI (Historical Popularity Index), a metric that aggregates information on a biography’s online popularity. Visit the rankings page to view the entire list of Chinese Table Tennis Players.

Photo of Zhuang Zedong

1. Zhuang Zedong (1940 - 2013)

With an HPI of 50.29, Zhuang Zedong is the most famous Chinese Table Tennis Player.  His biography has been translated into 16 different languages on wikipedia.

Zhuang Zedong (Chuang Tse-tung; August 25, 1940 – February 10, 2013) was a Chinese table tennis player, three-time world men's singles champion and champion at numerous other table tennis events and a well-known political personality during the tumult of the Cultural Revolution. His chance meeting with American table tennis player, Glenn Cowan, during the 31st World Table Tennis Championship, later referred to as ping-pong diplomacy, triggered the first thawing of the ice in Sino-American relations since 1949. Zhuang was once married to the pianist Bao Huiqiao, and his second wife was the Chinese-born Japanese Atsuko Sasaki (佐々木敦子).

Photo of Ma Lin

2. Ma Lin (b. 1980)

With an HPI of 45.68, Ma Lin is the 2nd most famous Chinese Table Tennis Player.  His biography has been translated into 27 different languages.

Ma Lin (simplified Chinese: 马琳; traditional Chinese: 馬琳; pinyin: Mǎ Lín; born February 19, 1980) is a retired Chinese table tennis player and the current Chinese Women's Team Head Coach. He learned to play table tennis at the age of five and became a member of the provincial team in 1990. In 1994, he joined the Chinese national team. Ma Lin is the only male player ever to win Olympic gold in Singles, Doubles and Team. Additionally, he previously held a professional era record of 5 major titles (4 World Cups and 1 Olympic Gold), having won more World Cups than any other male table tennis player in history. He has since been surpassed by Ma Long who has won 7 major titles. He has won a total of 18 world championships in his life. Since retiring in December 2013, Ma Lin has been serving as the head coach of the Guangdong provincial table tennis team. Ma Lin has been appointed as the head coach of the China National Women's Team from December 2022.

Photo of Ma Long

3. Ma Long (b. 1988)

With an HPI of 45.66, Ma Long is the 3rd most famous Chinese Table Tennis Player.  His biography has been translated into 37 different languages.

Ma Long (Chinese: 马龙; pinyin: Mǎ Lóng; born 20 October 1988) is a Chinese professional table tennis player who is currently ranked number 4 in Men’s Singles by the ITTF and the reigning Olympic and World Cup singles champion. Widely regarded as the greatest table tennis player of all time, he is the first and only male player to complete a career Double Grand Slam as the Olympic gold medalist in men's singles in 2016 and 2020. He held the ranking of number 1 for a total of 64 months (and 34 consecutive months from March 2015), the most by any male in the history of table tennis. He is also champion in World Championships in men's singles in 2015, 2017 and 2019. His records led the International Table Tennis Federation to nickname him "The Dictator" and "The Dragon" (derived from his name, Lóng, which represents the zodiac year of his birth). Since 2014, he has been the captain of the Chinese national table tennis men's team.

Photo of Wang Liqin

4. Wang Liqin (b. 1978)

With an HPI of 44.72, Wang Liqin is the 4th most famous Chinese Table Tennis Player.  His biography has been translated into 27 different languages.

Wang Liqin (simplified Chinese: 王励勤; traditional Chinese: 王勵勤; pinyin: Wáng Lìqín; born June 18, 1978, Shanghai) is a retired Mainland Chinese table tennis player. He began playing at the age of 6 and was picked for the Chinese men's national squad in 1993 when he was only 15 years old. He holds three majors (3 World Championships). He has been ranked #1 by ITTF for 25 consecutive months, from September 2000 to September 2002, which is the second-longest period for being consecutive #1 of the world as of January 2011. At the end of 2013, Wang Liqin retired from the national team.

Photo of Wang Hao

5. Wang Hao (b. 1983)

With an HPI of 43.93, Wang Hao is the 5th most famous Chinese Table Tennis Player.  His biography has been translated into 27 different languages.

Wang Hao (Chinese: 王皓; pinyin: Wáng Hào; born 15 December 1983) is a retired Chinese table tennis player. and the current Chinese Men's Team head coach. He became the world champion in men's singles in Yokohama, Japan, in May 2009, defeating three-time World Champion Wang Liqin 4–0. His other notable accomplishments include being a three-time World Cup Champion in 2007, 2008 and 2010, a singles silver medalist at the 2004 Summer Olympics, 2008 Summer Olympics and the 2012 Summer Olympics. In January 2010, he was replaced by Ma Long as the #1 rank on the official ITTF world rankings. He was previously ranked #1 on the official ITTF world rankings for 27 consecutive months, from October 2007 to December 2009. In April 2011, he was again the top ranked male player in the world. He is known to execute the Reverse Penhold Backhand (RPB) with exceptional skill. During his career, he has appeared twelve times in major world competition finals, which is a record. In men's singles, he has won the Asian Championship, Asian Cup, Asian Games, and Chinese National Games at least once. Wang Hao retired from the national team at the end of 2014. As of 2023, he's currently the head coach of the Chinese Men's Team.

Photo of Kong Linghui

6. Kong Linghui (b. 1975)

With an HPI of 43.07, Kong Linghui is the 6th most famous Chinese Table Tennis Player.  His biography has been translated into 25 different languages.

Kong Linghui (simplified Chinese: 孔令辉; traditional Chinese: 孔令輝; pinyin: Kǒng Lìnghuī; born October 18, 1975) is a retired Chinese table tennis player. He competed in the 1996 Summer Olympics, as well as in the 2000 Summer Olympics and the 2004 Summer Olympics. Kong is a 76th generation descendant of Confucius.

Photo of Deng Yaping

7. Deng Yaping (b. 1973)

With an HPI of 42.69, Deng Yaping is the 7th most famous Chinese Table Tennis Player.  Her biography has been translated into 26 different languages.

Deng Yaping (simplified Chinese: 邓亚萍; traditional Chinese: 鄧亞萍; pinyin: Dèng Yàpíng; born February 6, 1973) is a Chinese table tennis player, who won eighteen world championships including four Olympic championships between 1989 and 1997. She is regarded as one of the greatest players in the history of the sport. Deng was born in Zhengzhou, Henan, on February 6, 1973. Deng began playing table tennis aged five, and four years later she won the provincial junior championship. She was age 13 when she won her first national championship. Despite her success, she was initially denied a spot on the national team because she was so short (she stood only 1.5 metres [4 feet 11 inches] tall). She was finally included on the national team in 1988. She teamed with Qiao Hong to win her first world championship title in the women's doubles competition in 1989. Two years later in 1991, Deng won her first singles world championship. At the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona, Spain, she won a gold medal in both the singles and doubles competitions and repeated the feat at the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta, USA. She also earned singles and doubles titles at the 1995 and 1997 world championships. When she retired at the age of 24, she had won more titles than any other player in this sport, including four Olympic gold medals, and had been World Champion 18 times. From 1990 to 1997, she retained the title of world No. 1 ranked female table tennis player for 8 years. She was voted Chinese female athlete of the century, and joined the International Table Tennis Federation Hall of Fame in 2003. 40th World Table Tennis Championship (1989) Women's Double Gold. 1st Table Tennis World Cup (1990) Women's Team Gold. 41st World Table Tennis Championship (1991) Women's Single Gold, Women's Team Silver, Women's Double Silver. 2nd Table Tennis World Cup (1991–1992) Women's Team Gold, Women's Double Gold. 25th Olympic Games (1992) Table Tennis Women's Single Gold, Women's Double Gold. 42nd World Table Tennis Championship (1993) Women's Team Gold, Women's Double Silver. 43rd World Table Tennis Championship (1995) Women's Team Gold, Women's Single Gold, Women's Double Gold, Mixed Double Silver. 4th Table Tennis World Cup (1995) Women's Team Gold 26th Olympic Games (1996) Table Tennis Women's Single Gold, Women's Double Gold. 5th Table Tennis World Cup (1996) Women's Single Gold 44th World Table Tennis Championship (1997) Women's Team Gold, Women's Single Gold, Women's Double Gold, Mixed Double Silver. Deng is still deeply involved with the national Chinese table tennis scene and frequently speaks to the media. She also was a color-commentator for the Women's World Cup in 2020. In June 2021, Deng claimed that Mima Ito was not a serious threat to the Chinese women's Olympic hopes. After retiring at the end of the 1997 season, Deng served on the International Olympic Committee's ethics and athletes commissions. She is also a member of the elite Laureus World Sports Academy, and a member of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference. She gained a bachelor's degree from Tsinghua University, an MRes degree in Contemporary Chinese Studies from the University of Nottingham in 2002, and a PhD degree in Land Economy from the University of Cambridge (Jesus College) in 2008. Her thesis title is: "Olympic branding and global competition: the case of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games". Her research work coincides with her professional focus on the marketing, management and development of the 2008 Beijing Olympics as a member of the Beijing Organizing Committee for the Olympic Games. In 2007, she married Lin Zhigang, also a table tennis player, and later gave birth to a baby boy. In 2010, she attracted controversy due to comments she made. A student asked her, "how can one get promoted quickly?" She answered, "when your personal value overlaps with the interests of the state, your value will be enlarged without limit." Later, she also said, "In the 62 years since the establishment of the People's Republic of China, the People's Daily have not published a single piece of fake news." In 2013, she was awarded an honorary DLitt degree from the University of Nottingham Ningbo China.

Photo of Zhang Jike

8. Zhang Jike (b. 1988)

With an HPI of 41.51, Zhang Jike is the 8th most famous Chinese Table Tennis Player.  His biography has been translated into 31 different languages.

Zhang Jike (simplified Chinese: 张继科; traditional Chinese: 張繼科; pinyin: Zhāng Jìkē; born 16 February 1988) is a retired Chinese table tennis player. Zhang became the fourth male player in the history of table tennis to achieve a career Grand Slam when he won gold in men's singles at the Olympic games in London 2012. The first three are Jan-Ove Waldner (in 1992), Liu Guoliang (in 1999), and Kong Linghui (in 2000). Zhang won the Grand Slam in only 445 days. He won, consecutively, first WTTC 2011, then World Cup 2011, and then London Olympics 2012, which made him the fastest player ever to win a Grand Slam. After the first Grand Slam, he won WTTC 2013 and World Cup 2014.

Photo of Jiang Jialiang

9. Jiang Jialiang (b. 1964)

With an HPI of 41.14, Jiang Jialiang is the 9th most famous Chinese Table Tennis Player.  His biography has been translated into 15 different languages.

Jiang Jialiang (Chinese: 江嘉良; born March 3, 1964) is a male former international table tennis player from China. He competed at the 1988 Summer Olympics.

Photo of Xu Xin

10. Xu Xin (b. 1990)

With an HPI of 40.63, Xu Xin is the 10th most famous Chinese Table Tennis Player.  His biography has been translated into 26 different languages.

Xu Xin (simplified Chinese: 许昕; traditional Chinese: 許昕; pinyin: Xǔ Xīn; born 8 January 1990) is a Chinese professional table tennis player who is currently ranked world No. 103 as of May 2023 for men's singles by the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF). He first reached his career-high singles ranking of world No. 1 in January 2013. He is Vice Chairman of the Asian Table Tennis Federation. He has won 17 World Tour Singles titles and has won the World Championships in men's doubles thrice, mixed doubles twice, and five times in the team event. In addition, Xu Xin along with Ma Long and Zhang Jike won the men's team gold medal at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.

People

Pantheon has 38 people classified as Chinese table tennis players born between 1940 and 1999. Of these 38, 37 (97.37%) of them are still alive today. The most famous living Chinese table tennis players include Ma Lin, Ma Long, and Wang Liqin. The most famous deceased Chinese table tennis players include Zhuang Zedong. As of April 2024, 9 new Chinese table tennis players have been added to Pantheon including Jiang Jialiang, Wei Qingguang, and Wang Tao.

Living Chinese Table Tennis Players

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Deceased Chinese Table Tennis Players

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Newly Added Chinese Table Tennis Players (2024)

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