Lee, Tai Top Earners

Lee, Tai Top Earners

Lee Chong Wei_IndonesiaWinning the BCA Indonesia Open has turned out to be lucrative for Lee Chong Wei and Tai Tzu Ying as they lead the World Superseries prize money earners for 2016 in singles.

Malaysia’s Lee took home USD 109,800 to top the list of prize money earnings in Men’s Singles, while Chinese Taipei’s Tai Tzu Ying nearly matched him with USD 102,675 in Women’s Singles. The Indonesia Open offers a neat USD 67,500 to each singles winner.

Besides the Indonesia Open, Lee also won his home Celcom Axiata Malaysia Open (USD 41,250) and picked up USD 1,050 from his second round showing at the Yonex-Sunrise India Open.

Denmark’s Hans-Kristian Vittinghus, who has been flying high in 2016 with his first Superseries win in Australia after having led his country to its first-ever Thomas Cup triumph, came in second thanks to the USD 56,250 check that he picked up in Sydney on Sunday. Vittinghus’s semi-final finish at the Yonex All England in Birmingham contributed USD 7,975 out of his total Superseries earnings of USD 67,250 this year.

Other top-ten earners in Men’s Singles are: Lin Dan (China, USD 53,825); Jan O Jorgensen (Denmark, USD 46,525); Tian Houwei (China, USD 40,400); Son Wan Ho (Korea, USD 21,500); Viktor Axelsen (Denmark; USD 19,225); Jonatan Christie (Indonesia, USD 14,600); Hu Yun (Hong Kong, USD 11,825) and Ng Ka Long (Hong Kong, USD 11,200).

Hans-Kristian Vittinghus

In Women’s Singles, Tai Tzu Ying (featured image) is ahead of Thailand’s Ratchanok Intanon – whose blazing run this year, including three straight Superseries victories, gave her a handsome purse of USD 97,800.

Intanon is followed by Saina Nehwal (India, USD 77,275); Wang Yihan (China, USD 57,575); Nozomi Okuhara (Japan, USD 49,800); Wang Shixian (China, USD 43,550); Carolina Marin (Spain, USD 26,425); Li Xuerui (China, USD 19,775); Akane Yamaguchi (Japan, USD 15,700) and Sung Ji Hyun (Korea, USD 13,150).

Ratchanok Intanon_Malaysia

Victory at the Indonesia Open helped Korean pair Lee Yong Dae/Yoo Yeon Seong clamber atop the Men’s Doubles list. The two Koreans each made USD 45,700, ahead of the second-placed Indonesians Markus Fernaldi Gideon/Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo – who stormed to their second Superseries victory this season at the Australian Open. The Indonesians won USD 45,462 each.

The other top earners in this category are: China’s Chai Biao/Hong Wei (USD 30,412 each); Kevin Sanjaya SukamuljoIndonesia’s Angga Pratama/Ricky Karanda Suwardi (USD 23,281); China’s Zhang Nan/Fu Haifeng (USD 22,218); Japan’s Hiroyuki Endo/Kenichi Hayakawa (USD 17,506); Malaysia’s Goh V Shem/Tan Wee Kiong (USD 12,306); Denmark’s Mads Conrad-Petersen/Mads Pieler Kolding (USD 12,268); Japan’s Takeshi Kamura/Keigo Sonoda (USD 10,475) and Korea’s Ko Sung Hyun/Shin Baek Cheol (USD 9,043).

Japan’s Misaki Matsutomo and Ayaka Takahashi had the richest pickings in Women’s Doubles, thanks to three Superseries titles won in England, India and Indonesia. The World No.1 pair added USD 80,487 each to their bank accounts.

China’s Tang Yuanting/Yu Yang, winners of the Malaysia Open, also had a good haul, taking home USD 55,612 each. The top ten list includes OUE Singapore Open winners Greysia Polii/Nitya Krishinda Maheswari (Indonesia, 35,712); Korea’s Jung Kyung Eun/Shin Seung Chan (USD 17,143); Japan’s Kurumi Yonao/Naoko Fukuman (USD 14,212); Dutch pair Selena Piek/Eefje Muskens (USD 9,450); China’s Huang Yaqiong/Tang Jinhua (USD 8,231); China’s Tian Qing/Zhao Yunlei (USD 8,125); Korea’s Chang Ye Na/Lee So Hee (USD 7,906) and Japan’s Shizuka Matsuo/Mami Naito (USD 7,556).

Misaki Matsutomo & Ayaka Takashashi_Indonesia

Victories in India and Australia helped Chinese Mixed Doubles duo Lu Kai/Huang Yaqiong get richer by USD 48,806 each. Four other Chinese pairs also figure among the top ten earners, including No.2 Xu Chen/Ma Jin (USD 45,225), No.7 Zhang Nan/Zhao Yunlei (USD 14,000); No.8 Liu Cheng/Bao Yixin (USD 9,662) and No.10 Liu Yuchen/Tang Jinhua (USD 7,793).

Singapore Open winners Ko Sung Hyun/Kim Ha Na (Korea) are in third, with USD 36,050 each, followed by All England champions Praveen Jordan/Debby Susanto (Indonesia) with USD 29,275; Tontowi Ahmad/Liliyana Natsir (Indonesia; USD 27,856); Denmark’s Joachim Fischer Nielsen/Christinna Pedersen (USD 18,650); and No.9 Chris Adcock/Gabrielle Adcock (England, USD 8,518).

Eight of the top players and pairs on the Destination Dubai Rankings will participate in the season-ending Dubai World Superseries Finals, which has a handsome prize money purse of USD 1 million.

Lu Kai & Huang Yaqiong2
PARTNERS