Last updated: August 09, 2023The whole essence of this article is to answer the question: how much do ping pong players make? Unlike many other sports, ping pong players are not as popular, and only ping pong fans and followers might know professional players and the leagues of the sport. But how much do these players earn? Do they earn more or less than popular sports players? Can you make money as a professional ping pong player? Some records show that some pro players earn as much as $33,000 and the least income for playing is $2,800. Is this true? We’ll find out in this article.
Ping pong is also known as table tennis. It is a sport that involves two or four players at opposite sides of a table that’s divided by a net. The players (one or two on each side) use a solid racket to toss a ball from one side of the table to the other. And though the rules to the game are more complicated than this, the team that cannot send the ball back to the other side loses. Enough about the rules and progression of the game.
Similar to some other related sports, table tennis players have to win a tournament to be paid. But we’ll tell you: Ping pong or Table tennis players cash out big time – they make good money. They may not be as bulky as other popular sports like basketball or football, but come on, they make money from tossing a ball from one side to the other (don’t get things wrong – they do a lot more than that).
New players can make up to an average of $2,000 per annum (as starters), and professional athletes can earn millions. However, the money a player earns depends on several factors. Some of them are tournament victories, sponsors, the club’s administration, and the government or federation. Let’s see how these things can affect the salary of a ping pong player.
Given a situation where two athletes from different countries play for the same tournament, the federation would disburse the same amount for all the players that played to their countries. And to make sure, the players would be GENEROUSLY appreciated for playing – if you know what that means. But when it comes down to each athletes’ country, the payment can and will differ.
Also, a sponsored player can earn more than one that has to sponsor his training and lifestyle by him or herself. A sponsor will pay for training, equipment, entry fees, and more so that the player spends nothing while still winning the prize money at the end of the tournament. When a player is sponsored, he or she automatically gets to save money on the buying of equipment, as well as other aspects.
Tournaments are the least channel to getting paid for a ping pong player. The compensation for bronze, silver, or gold medals isn’t as enticing as people usually think. However, the level and popularity of the tournament determine how much is paid.
Finally, a ping pong club can compensate its players for a good job well done after every game, and this can positively affect a player’s annual or monthly returns.
Since we now have an idea of how much ping pong players are paid and the factors that determine how much enters for a player, we can move on to some examples of rich ping pong players that make a living off playing ping pong professionally.
Now that Wang is retired, he is still considered as one of the top best players with a growing net worth of approximately 20 million US Dollars.
The first on our list, Wang is an Asian player that has spent most of his years playing ping pong professionally and internationally. Now that he is retired, we can say that playing ping pong paid out well for him because he is not only on the top of our list, but he is also retired with a good amount of money in his bank account.
Wang started his career early and has started winning the hearts of ping pong fans as he brought home gold, silver, and bronze medal in various games and competitions. His racket, helping him do the shake hand grip, also had something to do with why Wang had so many trophies attached to his name.
His career started when he played in the Chinese League as a young boy of age 15. But his career did not stop there. Wang continued to play in several Olympics competitions, World Cup Games, and tournaments until he earned himself a wealthy living.
She also has a few winnings to her name, and some of these winnings made her a super-rich ping pong player.
Chen is one of the few women to ever make it to the top of the list in popular international sports. But here in ping pong, Chen refused to take a bow, and she ended up making a lot of money from playing ping pong as a professional player. She is an Asian player and is also regarded as the world-famous female ping pong (table tennis) player.
She also played in singles and doubles Women’s tabletop, and she brought up the gold once and a silver medal the following year after that. She had also played outside her country when she played at the Summer Olympics in Atlanta and won a silver medal.
Though Chen is retired now, she is still counted as a very rich ping pong player because of her current net worth. She is sitting on investments, assets, properties, and stocks worth up to 18 million US Dollars and more than the money, her years playing ping pong would have added to her physical and mental health Trusted Source This Is Your Brain on Ping Pong According to Suzuki, table tennis works parts of the brain that are responsible for movement, fine motor skills and strategy — areas that could be growing stronger with each match. While scientists have yet to study the brain activity of ping pong players, Suzuki believes the game enhances brain function unlike any other sport. abcnews.go.com , which is a plus.
He won a lot of medals and cups, and that helped him make more money during his time.
Wang Hao is another successful Asian ping pong player – male. He, also similar to the previous players we have aforementioned, made most of his money playing ping pong in tournaments, leagues, and seasons both within the state and outside.
Then in 2007, he won the Table Tennis World Cup Competitions for the first time. In 2008, he won the World Cup competitions again and brought home another silver medal in the Summer Olympics in Single. Two years later (2010), he won the World Cup Competitions for the third time and, in 2012, won another silver medal for the Summer Olympics. This was part of the many reasons people knew who he was and how talented he seemed to be.
During his time, he was the top player taking the first position until 2010 when another player with the name – Ma Long replaced him. Wang has a beautiful wife with lovely children and is living in Beijing. With a net worth of approximately 1.5 million USD and some simple investments, it doesn’t look like he would go broke again.
If you are a fan of ping pong in Europe, you would definitely know Timo Ball. He caught everyone’s attention for the first time with his left-handedness and then again with his quick backhand loop. Trusted Source The Backhand Sidespin Serve in Table Tennis There is usually a small amount of backspin on the ball. The server wants the receiver to think that there is much more backspin on the ball than there really is (the serve will look very similar to the backspin/sidespin serve), which should lead to a bad return which is higher than the receiver planned. www.liveabout.com The technique helped him win so many games against his competitors over and over again until he became famous.
Timo is a professional German ping pong player and has won so many games and tournaments to be ranked as number one three times. He was awarded the number one position (which is a lot of money, by the way) in 2003, 2011, and again in 2018. He also happened to have played for one of the greatest clubs with top rankings – Broueeia Düsseldorf.
So, if you are in Europe, you’ll know Timo because he is very popular and almost everyone that follows the game knows who he is. But apart from his popularity, fame, and wins, what caught our attention the most is that he is rich. While still playing actively, Timo has a total net worth of about 7 million USD. This 37-year-old German ping pong player has enough money that can start investments, making him set for life.
He is experienced and good at playing. That is why it is of no surprise to us that he is also on our list of the world’s most paid ping pong players.
Jean-Micheal Saive is a professional and popular ping pong player from Belgium. Also, throughout his 35 years playing ping pong professionally, he has won so many medals and completed many more Olympic games.
Everything began in 1988 when he played his first Summer Olympic Game and completed it. He played a few more until 2012, topping other players and making a name for himself.
His incredible techniques and development throughout his career helped him to become one of the most celebrated ping pong players in the world today. But above that, it made him one of the richest too. Although 15 million dollars is the recorded amount of his net worth, it is not completely true. His real net worth is not known, but the amount was arrived at after calculating the worth of all his stocks, investments, and assets.
So many people have played ping pong either as a sport to while away time with or as a basement game with neighbors at home. Either way, this not-so-famous sport has got us asking how much do ping pong players make? Why? Because it is a fun sport with not so many rules attached to it plus great returns. The things we mentioned above prove that many people have made a name for themselves through playing ping pong professionally, and above that, they are now worth millions in US Dollars. So, if you know how to play ping pong like a pro, you should consider training further to be a professional ping pong player. Who knows, a few years from now, you might be on our list of the world’s richest ping pong players too.
