SALARYSPORT
★ 0
WTT TOUR · 8 TIERS

Table tennis prize money by round

What the tour pays for reaching each round, at every tier of it. A Grand Smash champion takes $135,000 and a WTT Feeder champion takes $1,500 for winning the same number of matches, a gap of 90 times.

The number that decides a career is not the biggest one. It is this: going out in the last 64 of a Grand Smash pays $8,500, and winning a WTT Feeder outright pays $1,500.

TOP CHEQUE $135k
NAMED IN ALL $42.5m
TIERS 8
EVENTS PRICED 183
PLAYERS PAID 1,865

What each round pays, tier by tier

The singles ladder at the best edition of every tier on the tour

7 rounds · 8 tiers

Tier ChampionRunner-upSemi-finalQuarter-finalLast 16Last 32Last 64
Grand Smash $135,000$68,000$40,000$20,250$15,000$11,000$8,500
WTT Finals $80,000$44,000$26,000$18,000$14,000--
WTT Cup Finals -$45,000--$22,500--
WTT Champions $60,000$30,000$18,000$14,500$11,000$8,500-
WTT Star Contender $17,000$9,025$4,250$2,500$1,600$1,350-
WTT Contender $5,000$2,500$1,550$1,050$825$650-
WTT Feeder $1,500$1,100$825$600$460$370$130
Youth Smash $2,000$1,250$800$250$100--

A dash is a round the tier does not pay rather than a figure we are missing. The junior tiers stop at the quarter-finals because the draw stops there, and the season-ending fields are eight and sixteen players, so there is no last 32 for them to have.

What a title is worth at each tier

The champion's cheque, top of the tour to the bottom

90x from top to bottom

Grand Smash $135k WTT Finals $80k WTT Cup Finals $55k WTT Champions $60k WTT Star Contender $17k WTT Contender $5,000 WTT Feeder $1,500 Youth Smash $2,000

Nothing else in the sport moves like this. A world ranking is a continuous scale and the money under it is not: the calendar sorts players into a handful of income brackets, and the bracket is set by which events a ranking lets you into rather than by how many matches you win once you are there.

How steeply a Grand Smash falls away

Every paid round at the top tier of the tour

7 paid rounds

Champion $135k
Runner-up $68k
Semi-final $40k
Quarter-final $20k
Last 16 $15k
Last 32 $11k
Last 64 $8,500

Every tier of the tour

How many weeks each one runs, and what it has paid out

8 tiers

Tier What it is Events Seasons Paid out
Grand Smash $100,000 to the champion The four Grand Smash weeks are the richest events in the sport, and one of them pays more than a whole season of Feeders. 13 2022 to 2026 $18,348,405$18.3m
WTT Finals $40,000 to the champion Sixteen players, no qualifying, and a week that exists to settle the season. 4 2023 to 2025 $2,072,000$2.1m
WTT Cup Finals $55,000 to the champion The season-ending field of eight, run before the Finals took the name. 1 2022 $927,500
WTT Champions $40,000 to the champion A 32-player draw with no doubles and no qualifying, which is why the singles cheque runs so far ahead of the Contender below it. 22 2022 to 2026 $11,881,500$11.9m
WTT Star Contender $10,000 to the champion The tier where the world top ten start appearing in numbers, and where the doubles draws pay properly. 20 2022 to 2026 $4,077,206$4.1m
WTT Contender $5,000 to the champion The working week of the tour: a full draw, qualifying, and a champion who takes about a twentieth of what a Smash pays. 42 2022 to 2026 $3,244,850$3.2m
WTT Feeder $1,000 to the champion The bottom rung, and the one with the most editions. A Feeder champion takes less than a Smash pays for losing in the first round. 78 2022 to 2026 $1,920,795$1.9m
Youth Smash $2,000 to the champion The junior week attached to a Grand Smash, and the only youth event with a Smash name on it. 3 2025 $60,000

What the tour has paid out, season by season

Every named cheque on the calendar, by year

5 seasons

season running total

Frequently asked questions

How much prize money is there in table tennis?

$135,000 to the champion of a Grand Smash, which is the richest week in the sport. Across 183 events the tour has named $42,532,256 in cheques to 1,865 players.

How big is the gap between the top and the bottom of the tour?

90 times. A Grand Smash champion takes $135,000 and a WTT Feeder champion takes $1,500 for the same seven matches.

Does losing early at a Grand Smash pay more than winning a WTT Feeder?

Yes. $8,500 for going out in the last 64 of a Grand Smash, against $1,500 for winning a WTT Feeder outright.

Do doubles players get paid the same?

No. A doubles cheque is written to the pair and split between them, so each player banks half of a figure that is already smaller than the singles rung beside it.

Who has won the most table tennis prize money?

Yingsha Sun of China, $1,318,021 across 51 paid results.

How many rounds of a table tennis event are paid?

Up to 7 at the top of the tour, from the champion down to the last 64, and three or four at the bottom of it where the draw is smaller and qualifying carries no money at all.

Where to next

The tiers, the players and the weeks the money is paid in

The tiers

The biggest earners

The events

Seasons and countries