We already know Ma Long is the GOAT of table tennis—the Dragon has dominated the sport for over a decade with an unmatched trophy cabinet: multiple Olympic golds, World Championships, World Cups, and a career that’s redefined longevity and consistency at the highest level. His technical mastery, mental toughness, and ability to adapt have made him nearly unbeatable, with lopsided head-to-head records against legends of the sports.
Yet, even the greatest aren’t invincible. There are only two players who have beaten Ma Long more times than they have lost to him. In this article, we’ll dive into the players who have notched the most wins against Ma Long. Note that we will only include match-to-match records for ITTF-sanctioned tournaments (World Tour, World Cup, World Championships, WTT Series, etc.)
1. Wang Chuqin (8) vs Ma Long (3)
Wang Chuqin is one of the two players that have defeated Ma Long more times that lost to him. They have played against each other eleven times with Wang winning eight games to Ma Long three. However, it is important to note that Wang Chuqin is twelve years younger than Ma Long. Most of their matches occur when Wang is still in his prime and Ma Long was already at the end of his career.
This is not to discount Wang’s greatness. Even Ma Long’s “B game” toward the end of his career was still far better than most top players’ “A game.” Even players like Olympic medalist Fan Zhendong had lost most matches against Ma Long though Fan is eight years younger. Wang Chuqin’s dominant career head-to-head records against Ma Long is an extraordinary feat it itself.
8 – 3
2. Wang Hao (12) vs Ma Long (11)
Wang Hao is one of the players that Ma Long admitted he had difficulty beating. On their first six matches, Ma only beat Wang one time. It is important to note that even though Wang Hao and Ma Long are in the same generation (Millennials), Wang Hao had a slight head start. Wang became part of the Chinese national team ahead of Ma Long.
In ITTF tournaments, they have played against each other 23 times. Wang Hao beat Ma Long 12 times while Ma beat him 11 times.
12-11
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