Top ten Olympics table tennis players of all time

Ichiro Ogimura

Country: JapanHighest level of competition: World Championships

A player with humble beginnings which had him taking care of an ailing father, not only did Ogimura win the men’s World Championships – both in singles and doubles – 12 times starting from 1954, he contributed to the sport as one of the lone Japanese figures excelling in it.

He spearheaded one of Japan’s brief bursts into table tennis that resulted in the country winning five team championship medal at the time.

A former president of the IITF, a former Japanese Olympic Committee executive and also a vice president of the Japan Table Tennis Association, Ogimura campaigned relentlessly for a better reception of table tennis in Japan. He died in 1994.