GOAT Index

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Zhang Yining: the case for the GOAT

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    Zhang Yining: the case for the GOAT

    China · Born 5 October 1981, Beijing, China · Career 1990s–2009

    Chinese right-hander with tireless consistency and an almost error-free all-round game, who dominated the women's game for most of the 2000s.

    Career highlights

    Why Zhang Yining could be the GOAT

    Zhang Yining won back-to-back Olympic singles golds, two world titles and four World Cups, completing the Grand Slam twice over. She won all four Olympic events she entered and held No. 1 for most of six years. Her consistency made her nearly unbeatable at her peak.

    What fans say

    Zhang Yining is #12 of 15 in the fan ranking, with a 1–3 head-to-head record from 18 Women's table tennis votes. See the full Women's table tennis GOAT ranking

    Zhang Yining 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.