Top 20 Best Men’s Table Tennis Players and Their Equipment
Do you know what the sports gear of Top table tennis players in the world is?
So:
We show you Top 20 Men's table tennis players and what equipment they use in this post.
1 Ma Long
Currently 29 years old, Ma Long is ranked as the #1 men’s table tennis player in the world by the International Table Tennis Federation, which he has done for five consecutive world tournaments with 35 successive winning sets. Representing China, he is currently an Olympic and World Champion, and managed to hold this rank for 63 months total, 33 of which have been consecutive since March of 2015. This means that he has the most total months of any male player.
Equipment: A right-handed player using a shakehand grip, Ma Long has been known to use a DHS Hurricane Long 5 and a DHS Hurricane 3 NEO National.
Image: ittf.com
2 Fan Zhendong
Aged 20, out of China, Fan Zhendong is currently the #2 men’s table tennis player in the world according to the International Table Tennis Federation. With 24 total gold medals in his career, he’s managed a total of 9 silver medals in the same time span from the time he started as a 16-year-old. Similar to Ma Long in play style, he is fearless and provides excellent technique against highly rated and more experienced players.
Equipment: A right-handed player using a shakehand grip, Fan Zhendong is sponsored by Stiga and uses a Stiga Infinity VPS V Blade with a DHS Hurricane 3 Neo National Blue Sponge forehand and a Tenergy 05 for the backhand.
Image: ittf.com
3 Dimitrij Ovtcharov
Bringing his previous years’ ranking of 4 up to a 3 ranking for 2017, Dimitrij Ovtcharov is a 29-year-old out of Germany. The son of a Soviet table tennis champion, Mikhail Ovtcharov, he won a total of 1 silver and three bronze medals at three different Olympic tournaments. With 11 gold medals throughout his career, Ovtcharov is primarily a teams player, though he has made a few singles appearances over the course of the same, increasing his appearances as a whole over the last several years.
Equipment: A right-handed player using a shakehand grip, Dimitrij Ovtcharaov is sponsored by DONIC, and uses a Donic Ovtcharov Original Senso Carbon with Butterfly Tenergy 05 on both sides of the blade.
Image: ittf.com
4 Timo Boll
Ranked at #4 in the world, Timo Boll moved himself up from a #5 ranking the previous year. Coming from Germany, and older than the top 3 at 36 years, he is ranked #2 in the German Table Tennis National League. Previously the top player in the nation, he has achieved recognition for a number of excellent results. He has partnered with other players including Dimitrij Ovtcharov in the 2016 Summer Olympics where they won bronze in the team event.
Equipment: A left-handed player using a shakehand grip, Timo Boll uses a blade named for himself, the Timo Boll ALC, with Tenergy 05 rubbers on each side of the blade.
Image: ittf.com
5 Koki Niwa
Currently coming in at #5 is KokiNiwa out of Japan. At 23 he’s one of the younger competitors at this level of the competition. A gold medalist in youth and junior competitions as well, he’s a highly skilled player who even managed to best Ma Long to qualify for the 2012 Olympics. A member of the German Team TTC matec Frickenhausen, he’s been competing in adult matches since his 2012 Olympic appearance, making it to the World Table Tennis Championships each year since 2013.
Equipment: A left-handed player with a shakehand grip, Koki Niwa uses a TSP Swat Power blade with a Victas V backhand and forehand.
Image: ittf.com
6 Jun Mizutani
Improving last year’s score by one to rank at #6 this year, Jun Mizutani is a 28-year-old out of Japan who managed to become the youngest national champion in Japan at age 17. Topping the competition from 2007 to 2011, he also became the first male to win five consecutive years. Primarily a singles competitor, Mizutani has also competed in doubles and team competitions, winning medals in each. The winner of the first medal for Olympics table tennis singles in Japan, he accomplished the feat at the 2016 Rio Olympics.
Equipment: A left-handed player with a shakehand grip, Jun Mizutani uses a Mizutani Jun Super ZLC with Tenergy 64 rubbers on the forehand and Tenergy 80 on the backhand.
Image: ittf.com
7 Lin Gaoyuan
This year upping his ranking by two places, Lin Gaoyuan managed to come in at #7 on the list this time around. A 22-year-old out of China, he is currently #1 at the 2017 ATTU-ITTF Asian Cup, beating out overall #2 from our list, Fan Zhendong to achieve the feat. It was his first appearance at the competition and it took him only 6 games to accomplish the win, against the same opponent he had lost to during the 2012 World Junior Championships.
Equipment: A left-handed player with a shakehand grip, Lin Gaoyuan uses a VISCARIA blade with a Hurricane Neo 3 sponge.
Image: ittf.com
8 Simon Gauzy
Simon Gauzy managed to jump a number of places to bring his #13 finish up to #8 for this year. Aged 23 out of France, he’s relatively new on the circuit, with a smaller list of accomplishments, but that doesn’t mean he should be discounted at all. He travels with the French National Team and has achieved rankings as a youth as well as more recently. Sponsored by Cornilleau, competed in the 2016 Summer Olympics in the singles tournament but was eliminated without medaling.
Equipment: A right-handed player with a shakehand grip, Simon Gauzy is testing out a brand new blade named for him, the Simon Gauzy blade.
Image: ittf.com
9 Kenta Matsudaira
Moving up two rankings to #9 this year, Kenta Matsudaira is a 26-year-old player out of Japan. Ranked #1 as a junior in 2008, he is known for his tomahawk serve, which makes him a force to be reckoned with throughout the world. Having competed at the World Table Tennis Championships in 2009 and 2013 as well, he’s managed to face off against some of the best including Ma Lin, Olympic Champion, and Xu Xin, bronze medalist.
Equipment: A right-handed player with a shakehand grip, Kenta Matsudaira uses a personally branded blade, the Kenta Matsudaira ALC with a Tenergy 05 on the forehand and backhand.
Image: ittf.com
10 Fang Bo
25-year-old Fang Bo out of China managed to move up two places over his last appearance with a #10 ranking overall. A member of the China National Table Tennis First Team as a junior, he won every title for team and individual at the 2009 World Junior Championships. Active in the circuit for several years as a junior before moving up, he has continued to excel in tournaments around the world.
Equipment: A right-handed player with a shakehand grip, Fang Bo uses a custom DHS W968 with Tenergy 05 on the backhand and Hurricane on the forehand.
Image: ittf.com
11 Chuang Chih-Yuan
Chuang Chih-Yuan moved up a total of three rankings to get to #11 this year in the ITTF competition. Aged 36 out of Taiwan, he’s a second generation all-star in the tennis circuit with both parents being national champions. A competitor who began at the age of 8, he attended many training sessions in China before making the national team and a World Championship debut. He’s also been trained throughout Europe in parts of France and Germany.
Equipment: A right-handed player with a shakehand grip, Chuang Chih-Yuan uses a Butterfly Timo Boll T5000 with Tenergy 64 forehand and backhand rubbers.
Image: ittf.com
12 Wong Chun Ting
Wong Chun Ting actually fell two places in the past year, coming out at #12 this year. A 26 year old out of Hong Kong, he first started playing table tennis at age 6 with his brother, joining his first club at age 9. In 2012 he won his first doubles title at the ITTF World Tour and achieved three more titles two years later, in 2014. Since then he has continued to participate in doubles and singles events throughout the world.
Equipment: A right-handed player with a penhold grip, Wong Chun Ting uses a Butterfly Arylate-Carbon blade with Tenergy 05 rubbers on both the forehand and backhand.
Image: ittf.com
13 Lee Sang-su
A 27-year-old player out of the Republic of Korea, Lee Sang-su moved up three levels this year, coming in at #13 in the world. With two singles titles from the ITTF World Tour, he first began playing at the age of 10. A dedicated player, he practices three times per day for several hours to build his skills with the team. He even managed to beat two-time world champion Zhang Jike just this past summer at the World Table Tennis Championships.
Equipment: A right-handed player with a shakehand grip, Lee Sang-su uses a Liu Shiwen Blade with Tenergy 05 rubbers on the forehand and backhand.
Image: ittf.com
14 Yan An
Moving up in rankings by three levels, Yan An from China managed to take the #14 spot this year. A 24-year-old player, he plays with the Chinese National Team and Ningbo. The son of the Beijing Provincial Team coach, he began playing a little later in his life, entering the Chinese National Team at age 13. Primarily teams and doubles player, he currently shares a coach with Zhang Jike, who he defeated in the Rotterdam World Championships in 2011, achieving a silver medal.
Equipment: A right-handed player with a traditionally shakehand grip (though he also plays with a penhold grip), Yan An uses a Butterfly Viscaria FL with a DHS Hurricane 3 forehand rubber and Tenergy 05-FX backhand.
Image: ittf.com
15 Vladimir Samsonov
Falling one slot to number #15 this year, Vladimir Samsonov is a 41-year-old player out of Belarus, which makes him the oldest player on this list by quite a large margin. Also known as Mr. ECL for the European Champions League and Tai Chi Master in China, he has competed in six consecutive Olympic Games and placed fourth or fifth in three games in individual levels. Having competed in singles and doubles competitions, he currently plays with the Royal Villette Charleroi club.
Equipment: A right-handed player with a shakehand grip, Vladimir Samsonov uses a Samsonov Force Pro Black Edition blade with Evolution MX-S rubbers.
Image: ittf.com
16 Tomokazu Harimoto
Tomokazu Harimotois an up and coming player who is also the youngest currently in the top #20. Rising two places over his previous years’ finish to achieve the #16 slot, he is a 14 year old player out of Japan. The youngest player ever to win the Men’s Single Seamaster 2017 ITTF World Tour Czech Open, he is only continuing to build his list of achievements. He is now preparing for the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games where he aims for the Men’s Singles and Men’s Teams medals.
Equipment: A right-handed player using a shakehand grip, Tomokazu Harimoto uses a modified Zhang ALC blade with Tenergy 64 rubber on the forehand and Tenergy 05 FX on the backhand.
Image: ittf.com
17 Marcos Freitas
Another one moving up two places over his previous year’s position, Marcos Freitas is a 29-year-old player out of Portugal who managed to take the #17 spot. A competitor in the 2008 and 2012 Summer Olympics, he is primarily a team or doubles player, with rankings in the European Games and European Championships for these events. His best singles event was the 2015 Ekaterinburg at the European Championships where he took silver.
Equipment: A left-handed player using a shakehand grip, Marcos Freitas uses a custom Arylate Carbon blade with Tenergy 05 rubbers on the forehand and backhand.
Image: ittf.com
18 Hugo Calderano
Coming in at #18 is Hugo Calderano, the previous #20 finisher out of Brazil. At 20 years old, he is one of the youngest competitors at this level; he has also won the Men’s Singles competition for the 2017 ITTF Pan America Championships. Having risen over his loss in the 2015 Pan American games to achieve this great comeback, he competes in singles and teams competitions with regularity, having achieved some championships over the past several years in both.
Equipment: A right-handed player with a shakehand grip, Hugo Calderano uses a Gatien Conquest blade with Target Pro GT rubbers.
Image: ittf.com
19 Masaki Yoshida
Masaki Yoshida rose three places over his previous finish to earn a spot in our top 20, with a finish at #19. A 23-year-old player out of Japan, he managed to cause a major upset in the 2011 ITTF World Tour Qatar Open when he beat Dimitrij Ovtcharov and achieved a place in the quarter-final tournament. At the time he was ranked at #72 in Men’s World Rankings and Ovtharov was ranked #5, making it a huge upset though he wasn’t able to make it all the way to the final.
Equipment: A right-handed player with a shakehand grip, Yoshida Masaki uses a Tenergy 05 forehand and a Tenergy 80 backhand.
Image: ittf.com
20 Omar Assar
The final name on our list is #20, Omar Assar, a 26-year-old player out of Egypt who managed to bump his ranking up one slot to make it to our top 20 list. An intense competitor with many gold and silver medals for the All-African Games, African Championships, and a whole lot more, he competes in singles, doubles, mixed doubles, and teams with a near equal measure, including an appearance at the 2012 Summer Olympics.
Equipment: A right-handed player with a shakehand grip, Omar Assar uses a Timo Boll ALC blade with a Tenergy 05 forehand and backhand rubber.
Image: ittf.com
