Ma Long

Ma Long (born 20 October 1988) is a Chinese professional table tennis player who is currently ranked number 3 in Men’s Singles by the ITTF and the reigning Olympic singles champion.

After winning both the Asian and World Junior Championships, Ma became the youngest world champion at the age of 17 after he participated in the 2006 Bremen World Team Championship.

He developed his foundations under the tutelage of Wang Hao and former Chinese National Team coach Ma Kai Xuan before studying under Qin Zhijian.

Before turning 22, he had great success in singles, reaching the finals of 11 ITTF World Tour tournaments (winning 8).

He won the Asian Cup and World Tour Grand Finals twice, and also made it to the final round of the Asian Championships two times (losing to former coach Wang Hao in 2007 and winning in 2009).

In addition, he played in the finals of the China National Games and All China Championships, losing both matches to Wang.

This was evident in his losses to Timo Boll and Vladimir Samsonov in the 2008 and 2009 World Cup semifinals, and to Wang Hao (4–1, 4–2, 4–2) in the semifinals of three consecutive World Championships (2009, 2011, and 2013).

Although he performed well on the ITTF World Tour and in domestic competitions, he didn't make it to the final of the World Championships in his first four attempts.

This led to many believing he was inferior to compatriot Zhang Jike, who completed his Grand Slam in just over a year.

Despite being the No. 1 player in the world for much of 2010–2012 stretch, he was not chosen to represent China at the 2012 Olympics due to his temporary dip in ratings that happened after a 560-day win streak on the ITTF World Tour.

He suffered career setback by Japan's Koki Niwa in six games at the Asian Olympic Qualification Tournament, then lost to Lee Sang-su at the 2012 Korea Open, 4–1.

As players were selected based on the ITTF World Rankings, he was not given an opportunity to win an Olympic medal in singles at the time when he was widely accepted as the best table tennis player in the world.

Chinese National Team coach Liu Guoliang remarked that Ma had all the tools necessary to be the best, yet at major tournaments, he had so far lacked sufficient mental toughness to play to his full ability under pressure.

This was a huge breakthrough for him, as his only other major singles title was the 2012 World Cup.

After a surprising 4–1 loss to Shang Kun at the Japan Open, Ma won the China Open for a record sixth time, winning 4–1 against Xu Xin.

In September, he led Ningbo over Fan Zhendong and Bayi to win the Chinese Super League championship.

Injuries prevented him from competing at the Asian Championships, but he participated in the World Cup in Halmstad in October.

Following a dropped set to Omar Assar in the round of 16, he did not lose another game in the competition, allowing his opponents to score an average of 6 points per set the rest of the tournament.

He did not participate in the last two World Tour tournaments of the year, again due to injuries, but still was seeded first at the World Tour Grand Finals because he had won 3 other World Tour tournaments.

In the final, he faced Fan again, winning 11–9 in the last game of a full-stretch match, coming back from being down 3–2 in sets (after being up 2–0), including down 8–6 in the sixth and 6–2 in the decider (when he won 8 points in a row).

After his third defeat to Wang Hao at the WTTC in 2013, Ma had a successful year.

He won the China Open at two different locations (beating Wang and then Xu Xin in the final), the Asian Championships (for the third time), and the China National Games in a full-stretch match against Fan Zhendong.

However, Xu defeated him 4–3 at the end of the year at the ITTF World Tour Grand Finals.

Since 2014, he has been the captain of the Chinese national table tennis men's team.

In March 2014, he won the Asian Cup for the fourth time, again defeating Fan in seven games.

At the 2014 WTTC, he did not lose a single game.

In the final against Germany, he played a pivotal role, beating Timo Boll in the opening match and defeating Dimitrij Ovtcharov for the win.

For his efforts, he was awarded the Victor Barna Award as the tournament's best player.

He then won the China Open for the fifth time, which tied him with Wang Liqin for the most ever.

Ma's first encounter with Zhang Jike at a Grand Slam competition came in October 2014, at the World Cup in Düsseldorf.

Although he was leading 3–2 in sets, Ma lost the match, saving two match points in the deciding game but still losing 10–12.

This led to further criticism of his inability to come through on the biggest stages at the toughest moments.

In November, he reached the final of the Chinese National Championships, but was defeated by Fan, 4–2, again ending the year on a sour note.

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 as "The Dictator" and "The Dragon" (derived from his name, Lóng, which represents the zodiac year of his birth).

However, 2015 would prove to be Ma's year.

He won the Kuwait Open, beating Xu Xin 4–1 in the final, and then the German Open, getting revenge on Zhang Jike in an intense final after being down 3–1.

But his biggest win came at the 2015 WTTC, where he did not drop more than one set until the final where he defeated tournament sensation Fang Bo in six games.

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.