Jan-Ove Waldner (Sweden): Arguably the greatest modern-day player of all. When he focuses on his game there are few players to match his often surreal style of play. Waldner is a fantastic entertainer and competitor - 1989 World Singles and Team Champion, 1991 World Team Champion and runner-up in the men's singles, 1993 World Team Champion, 1997 World Singles Champion, Men's Singles Olympic Champion 1992, European Singles Champion 1996, several times European Team Champion and European Top-12 winner.

Vladimir Samsonov (Belarus): One of the top players in the current ranking list. In 1998 he won the European Men's Singles title in Holland; he was runner-up to Jan-Ove Waldner at the 1997 World Championships in Manchester. He possesses an extremely consistent two-wing offensive style with tight serves, excellent spin-play, a good touch and quick feet (both close to and away from the table). Samsonov is a player who will doubtless go on to win many major honours in the future.

Kong Linghui (China): A current member of the Chinese National Team. KONG is a formidable attacking player with relentless forehand and backhand loops. Excellent touch, quick footwork and amazing will to win. His strength lies in his ability to change the pace of his play - from tight touch play to strong attacking loops. He won the World Singles Championship in 1995, beating compatriot Liu Guoliang in a tight 5 set final in Tianjin, China.

Jean-Philippe Gatien (France): Gatien, the 1993 World Champion, possess amazing power on the forehand. His speciality is following up his excellent service with lightening-quick forehands. Whilst he isn't always at his best from his backhand wing, his unbelievably quick footwork more than compensates for this.

Jorg Rosskopf (Germany): Another left-handed player, Rosskopf is renowned for his backhand power. In 1989, Rosskopf, partnered by Stefan Fetzner, won the World Doubles Championships in Dortmund. Three years later in 1992, Rosskopf was again on the top of the winner's podium having just won the European Men's Singles Title with a victory over Jean-Michel Saive in Frankfurt.

The Swedish Team: It would seem only fair to mention the Swedish National team when discussing the great modern day players. The Swedes became the first nation to challenge the Chinese dominance of men's table tennis in the last 20 years. The team has comprised players such as Mikael Appelgren, Ulf Carlsson, Jorgen Persson, Erik Lindh, Peter Karlsson and, of course, Jan-Ove Waldner. In 1987, the Swedes took the World Team Championships crown from China. During the following World Championships in Dortmund Sweden beat China 5-0 - the first time that China had ever been whitewashed in a World Team final. Again in 1991 and 1993 the Swedes took the World Team crown. They have a similarly formidable record in the European Championships where their dominance has only come under threat in the past 5 years predominantly from the French.