GOAT Index

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Liu Guoliang: the case for the GOAT

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    Liu Guoliang: the case for the GOAT

    China · Born 10 January 1976, Xinxiang, Henan, China · Career 1990s–2001

    Chinese penholder with deceptive serves and a fast, attacking style, who won Olympic singles and doubles gold in 1996 and later shaped Chinese table tennis as head coach and administrator.

    Career highlights

    Why Liu Guoliang could be the GOAT

    Liu Guoliang was the first Chinese man to complete the career Grand Slam and won both Olympic singles and doubles gold in 1996. As head coach he then built the team that dominated the next two decades. Few people have shaped the sport so much both as player and leader.

    What fans say

    Liu Guoliang is #11 of 18 in the fan ranking, with a 5–6 head-to-head record from 56 Men's table tennis votes. See the full Men's table tennis GOAT ranking

    Liu Guoliang head to head

    How the ranking works. Every head-to-head vote is a result, like a game. The standings use a Bradley–Terry model, the same idea behind chess ratings: beating a highly rated legend counts for more than beating a long shot. Ratings are shown on a chess-style scale centred on 1500.

    One vote per matchup per person. If you see a pairing again in another session your new answer replaces the old one, so nobody can stuff the ballot by repeating a matchup.

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    Photo credits

      Photos come from Wikimedia Commons under the licenses listed. Each links to its source page.