Badzine’s list of top prize-winners in 2011

Badzine has calculated and published a list of top prize-winners in the badminton circuit, to give an idea of who is getting what from the events they compete in. This list only takes in account the “prize money” for top players, which is a public figure, and does not include any sponsorship agreements nor salaries paid by their clubs or federation. These figures are also the ones given on the “prize money” charts from the events, which do not include any taxes that were withdrawn by local authorities.

Our first list is the final list of the year of 2011 where we have highlighted the players individually rather than pairs.

Logically, as the world’s number one, Lee Chong Wei also tops the list of prize-winners for 2011 with a global income of US$267,350. He has earned almost 5 times more money as Chen Jin, the 5th best earner of 2011.  Doubles and mixed specialist Zhao Yunlei is the top earner for the doubles category with US$235,128 but for women overall, Wang Yihan tops the list with a total of US$265,575.  The top man in the doubles category is Zhang Nan at $154,369.

Altogether, only 14 shuttlers have earned more than US$100,000 in prize money in 2011. The top Europeans are the duo of Boe/Mogensen, who each have earned US$101,299. Peter Gade, the top European in men’s singles, earned US$88,500 for his great season.

Players’ Prize-winnings Ranking – 2011

Highest Earning Player: Lee Chong Wei (Malaysia) US$267,350

Top 5 Players by prize-winnings:
1. Lee Chong Wei (Malaysia/MS) US$267,350
2. Wang Yihan (China/WS) US$265,575
3. Zhao Yunlei (China/WD/XD) US$235,128
4. Lin Dan (China/MS) US$219,500
5. Yu Yang (China/WD/XD) US$194,381

Top 5 by gender

Top 5 Highest Earning Male Players
1. Lee Chong Wei (Malaysia/MS) USD 267,350
2. Lin Dan (China/MS) US$219,500
3. Zhang Nan (China/MD/XD) US$154,369
4. Chen Long (China/MS) US$143,300
5. Lee Yong Dae (Korea/MD/XD) US$142,635

Highest Earning Female Players
1. Wang Yihan (China/WS) US$265,575
2. Zhao Yunlei (China/WD/XD) US$235,128
3. Yu Yang (China/WD/XD) US$194,381
4. Wang Shixian (China/WS) US$188,700
5. Wang Xiaoli (China/WD) US$185,725

Click here for a full list of prize-winners by category