Top 10 Men's Doubles Players of All Time

Edit: I mistakenly named this a top 10 list, even though it only has a top 5. Feel free to name your top 10 though. If you can show other statistics like win rate or career titles that would be great also.

I'm looking around the forum and seeing no real discussion on the GOAT(greatest of all time) for the sport, so I'm starting one for the discipline I'm most familiar with. This isn't a ranking for combined disciplines (such as combining Park Joo Bong's MD legacy with his XD legacy), this is simply for the Men's Doubles.

This is a ranking that combines abilities and resume.

1. Park Joo Bong - If you're deducting a few marks because he played in an era where the sport wasn't as fast and want to omit him from the list, you've got a point. But I'll put him on here just because he's considered the godfather of the discipline and out of "respect for the elders" so to speak. He is possibly the first real super star of the MD discipline, 2 world championship titles when it was still once per two years, 1 olympic gold medal because badminton wasn't an event except for once in his career. Over 10 years, competed in 41 international events with Kim Moon Soo and won 32, which is absurd.

Best attributes: Unparalleled vision and IQ for the game.

Knocks: Played back when badminton wasn't as quick as modern times, so questions about how his game would translate to modern times compared to others on the list.


2. Hendra Setiawan - He has all the major titles, he has had a pretty decent number of international tournament wins with two completely different style of players in Markis Kido (RIP) and Mohammad Ahsan. If the phrase "float like a butterfly sting like a bee" applied to badminton it has to be Hendra Setiawan, has the grace of an artist, but when he sees even the tinniest opening, will find a way to end the rally on his own with the precision of a surgeon. He has to be the one of the most lethal rally finishers ever, he knows exactly what to do to kill the shuttle, where to place it, and when to do it. Has the height, soft hands, power, speed, angles, temperament, class. It is extremely difficult to find the flaws of Hendra Setiawan as a player.

Best attributes: Vision, IQ, skills, power, speed, creativity, flat exchanges, he has everything at all time top levels, especially on attack. Possibly the best finishing ability at the front court ever, and just as lethal at the back when he chooses to be. Having him lurking at the front is one of the scariest sights for opposing players.

Knocks: Career cut a bit short due to Markis Kido's health. His defense wasn't all-time levels.


3. Tony Gunawan - One of the most unique stories for a badminton player. Had to shuffle partners in the middle of his career, but ended up winning Olympics with Candra Wijaya. After Candra and Sigit got back, was reunited with original partner Halim Haryanto to win All England and World Championships. All major titles were won in a span of 2 years, and then retired, only to return to WC past his prime as a representative of the US and won a MD title for the first time in US history. In his prime, displayed the most ruthless, relentless, complete attacking game I've seen from a men's doubles player. Problem is, his career was cut too short and we missed much of his prime years.

Best attributes: Relentless attacking game. Contrary to popular belief that he was predominantly a net player, he was absolutely lethal from the backcourt and I'd go as far as to say he might have been more threatening from the back than the front. Not only did he have a great wrist, he had great angles and the best secondary, tertiary smashes allowing him to put relentless pressure on opponents.

Knocks: Career cut too short, defense wasn't all-time levels.

4. Kim Dong Moon - As a player, if there may be a more complete player than Hendra Setiawan, it might be Kim Dong Moon. Very similar except Kim had all time great defensive abilities. He also has possibly the most powerful wrist from a MD player from what I've seen, which makes him a threat to end the rally from anywhere on court. He doesn't move with the grace of Setiawan, but is more power reliant although when the rally slows down, he knows how to creatively place the bird with surgical accuracy like Setiawan as well. Despite his huge stature, reach and power, was just as good at the front court as anybody on this list. Only knock on him is that during Tony Gunawan's heyday, Kim was beaten by him in both the Olympics and WC, which makes it hard to rank ahead of him.

Best attributes: Like Setiawan, most attirbutes are near all time top levels. A Setiawan with slightly more power but less creativity.

Knocks: Was beaten by Tony Gunawan in his heyday. Can get outpaced by opponents that are extremely fast paced.

5. Cai Yun - This one admittedly might be the most controversial one. Cai Yun has all time great resume, most MD World Championships (even though the format change helped), Olympic gold, numerous titles. Has possibly one of the most solid resumes in terms of MD players, and if we're talking just accomplishments, he might be #1-2 on this list. The only reason I can't put him more above is because the eye test, which tells me, despite his extremely effective style of play, it isn't as complete as some of the ones above. Another reason is because I've seen him compete against Setiawan in his prime and, any time they faced each other, I could say for certain that the best player on the court was not Cai Yun, but Setiawan. But unfortunately Setiawan/Kido's partnership came to a halt in the middle of their primes due to Kido's injuries, otherwise we might have seen a lot more competition for titles. I've also seen an aging Kim Dong Moon play against Cai Yun, and although Cai was young at the time, I definitely felt Kim was a better player on court than him also.

Best attributes: All time great speed, power, consistency defense. Everything is fast and furious with Cai Yun, the rally pace of Cai Yun/Fu Haifeng vs Lee Yong Dae/Jung Jae Sung might be the fastest ever. A complete player who plays an extremely effective method of playing that relies on overwhelming opponents with speed and power that doesn't rely on much risk taking, which makes him extremely consistent - he may be a coach's "dream" in terms of style of play. His power from the back court is extremely underrated due to Fu Haifeng.

Knocks: Doesn't have the same level of creativity, ingenuity, "X factor" as the other 4 above in terms of taking games over.



Honorable mentions:

Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo - The eye test tells me he is top 5, and he has the titles and win percentage among all time greatest, but he doesn't have the big titles like WC or Olympics to cement his greatness. IMO the fastest human being that has ever walked on the badminton court, he has the reaction speed, thought-processing speed, and hand speed to match his feet, making him the most exciting MD player to watch of all time.

Best attributes:
Speed, reaction speed might be best I've seen. Possibly best net player ever due to pure quickness and boldness.

Knocks:
No major titles, a bit too reckless which makes it hard on partner.

Lee Yong Dae - One of the most stable, unique men's doubles players of all time. Plays a style that's more reminiscent of WD than MD, with an emphasis on consistency and defense over attacking and risk-taking, a style I've only seen from Lee Yong Dae in modern top MDs. The best defensive player ever and the most consistent and reliable counterattacker because he doesn't rely on high risk moves like tunnel visioning, hard countering, or flashy technique to shift his side from defense to offense. Unfortunately, like Sukamuljo, he doesn't have the major titles in MD to join the top of the top.

Best attributes:
Quick feet, with reaction and anticipation that are all time great level. In terms of not making unforced or forced errors (aka consistency), he might be the best ever.

Knocks:
His lack of power from the back and lack of finishing ability from the front as well can sometimes cause a rally to drag on unnecessarily. Lack of major titles.

Mohammad Ahsan - Has the major titles and in terms of just peak performance, may match his partner Setiawan. But unfortunately, he partnered with Setiawan a bit too late in his career to establish all time great statistics in categories like international titles wins, and hasn't really flourished as a player before Setiawan, which means he'll unfortunately be in his partner's shadow, even if he is IMO a near equal to Setiawan when both were at their best.

Best attributes: One of the most well rounded attacking games ever. Uses element of surprise, pace-changing, an absurdly high contact point on smashes to create angles and shots that make it extremely hard for opponents to handle. Equally good in both front and back court.

Knocks: His defense isn't all-time levels. Career didn't take off until late.


Rexy Mainaky - I'd like to put him top 5 based on the things I've heard of him, but honestly there's just so few footages of him online it's very hard to understand his consistency and ability. That also goes for most of the players in his era and before, whose footages are mostly lost.

 

I do have to put a bit of favoritism to front court players, but you could argue Fu Haifeng was as imporant to the partnership as Cai Yun. I could certainly see that argument, and to be honest I only made honorable mentions list in case there's an outrage if the list was missing any of their favorite players. The honorable mention list doesn't necessarily mean they are the next best players or whatever, I haven't thought of the rankings 6-10 yet. I could even make the argument of putting Fu Haifeng in #5 instead of Cai Yun.


Personally I think Fu Haifeng and Cai Yun are near equals and are probably both somewhere around that 5-10 rankings. Both based on accomplishments and abilities. And I'd certainly put him ahead of players without major titles like LYD and KSS.

 

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