China's tennis high-flyer Li Na was the top earner among Chinese athletes in 2013 as she pocketed 124.5 million yuan ($20.1 million), according to a report from Changsha-based Titan Sports newspaper on Monday.
Li topped the yearly list for the third time in a row with a more-than-90-million-yuan gap ahead of shuttler Li Dan, who was second-placed with 30 million.
Li has been on the list every year since 2010 as she earned more than 10 million yuan each year. The 2014 Australian Open winner is yet to break the earnings record set by former basketball trailblazer Yao Ming in 2010 with 141.73 million yuan.
Olympic swimming champion Sun Yang, who just resumed training after a ban for driving without a license, was third after earning 22 million yuan in the year.
Guangzhou Evergrande's successful 2013 season propelled their key players onto the list, as seven Evergrande players stepped into the top 16, led by captain Zheng Zhi with 19 million in fourth place, teammate Feng Xiaoting followed in fifth place with 16 million.
Former NBA player Yi Jianlian was tied at sixth place with women's tennis doubles world No.1 Peng Shuai, who won Wimbledon and the WTA Championships paired with Hsieh Su-wei last year, and two Evergrande players Zeng Cheng and Huang Bowen. All made 15 million in the year of 2013.
Golfer Feng Shanshan and Liang Wenchong both grabbed berths in the list while Chinese snooker favorite Ding Junhui was 15th-placed and women's tennis player Zheng Jie ended the list at 16th.
China's famous 110 meter hurdler Liu Xiang was knocked from the list for the first time since 2010 as he failed to count more than 10 million yuan in earnings, which is the baseline for the list.
Global Times