Ma Long: Difference between revisions

'''Ma Long''' ({{zh|s=马龙|p=Mǎ Lóng}}; 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 and World Cup singles champion.<ref name="profile">{{cite web |url=http://www.ittf.com/biography/biography_web_details.asp?Player_ID=105649 |title=MA Long – Biography |work=gz2010.cn |publisher=Guangzhou Asian Games Organizing Committee |access-date=25 January 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110616210630/http://www.ittf.com/biography/biography_web_details.asp?Player_ID=105649 |archive-date=16 June 2011}}</ref> Widely regarded as the greatest table tennis player of all time,<ref>{{Cite web |title=Undisputed G.O.A.T. Ma Long Breaks New Ground In Tokyo |url=https://worldtabletennis.com/description?artId=521 |access-date=24 April 2022 |website=worldtabletennis.com}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Ma Long - Olympics Biography |url=https://olympics.com/en/athletes/long-ma |access-date=April 23, 2022 |website=Olympics.com}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Ma Long: The GOAT of Table Tennis |url=https://www.timesnownews.com/sports/tokyo-olympics/article/ma-long-the-goat-of-table-tennis/795785 |access-date=24 April 2022 |website=www.timesnownews.com |language=en}}</ref> 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 [[Table tennis at the 2016 Summer Olympics – Men's singles|2016]] and [[Table tennis at the 2020 Summer Olympics – Men's singles|2020]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Undisputed G.O.A.T Ma Long Breaks New Ground In Tokyo |url=https://worldtabletennis.com/description?artId=521 |website=World Table Tennis |date=30 July 2021}}</ref> 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.<ref name="wr">{{cite web |url=http://www.ittf.com/ittf_ranking/world_ranking_per_name.asp?Player_ID=105649&U18=0&U21=0&Siniors=1& |title=ITTF world ranking |publisher=International Table Tennis Federation |access-date=5 January 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111217074654/http://www.ittf.com/ittf_ranking/world_ranking_per_name.asp?Player_ID=105649&U18=0&U21=0&Siniors=1& |archive-date=17 December 2011}}</ref> He is also champion in World Championships in men's singles in [[2015 World Table Tennis Championships – Men's singles|2015]], [[2017 World Table Tennis Championships – Men's singles|2017]] and [[2019 World Table Tennis Championships – Men's singles|2019]]. His records led the [[International Table Tennis Federation]] to nickname him as "The [[Dictator]]" (due to his controlling and aggressive style of play as well as his facial resemblance to Chinese paramount leader Xi Jinping and "The [[Dragon (zodiac)|Dragon]]" (derived from his name, Lóng, which represents the [[Dragon (zodiac)|zodiac year]] of his birth).<ref name="ittf 20190331"/><ref name="olympics.com 20210406"/> Since 2014, he has been the captain of the [[China national table tennis team|Chinese national table tennis men's team]].