Australian eSports Athlete Helps Win $11.2 Million Playing ‘Dota 2’

Anathan Pham, one of Australia’s most successful and highly paid athletes, won the International “Dota 2” Championships in Canada to split the total tournament prize pool of $25,532,177.

Pham, along with the boys of team OG and their new recruit Topias “Topson” Taavitsainen, managed to beat Chinese powerhouse team PSG.LGD in the grand finals in a 3-2 best of five match at The International 2018, which took place at the Rogers Arena in Vancouver on Aug. 25.

Pham, also known by his professional “Dota 2” name Ana, is one of the strong core members of team OG along with their new captain Johan “N0tail” Sundstein, offlaner Sebastian “Ceb” Debs, and position 4 support Jesse “JerAx” Vainikka.

The team took home and split the winner’s grand prize portion of $11,234,158, with each member receiving roughly $2.2 million.

Following his victory, the 18-year-old esports player has been placed as the 19th top earning individual in sports in Australia, according to SBS.

He reportedly surpassed other athletes in the country, including football players Aaron Mooy and Tim Cahill, and Wallabies rugby star Israel Folau.

Ana’s career kicked off in 2015 when he decided to move from his home in Melbourne, Australia to Shanghai, China to chase his dream of becoming a professional “Dota 2” player.

His professional path officially began in 2016 when he joined the Chinese team Invictus Gaming as a substitute player before eventually moving on to OG that same year after a roster change.

There, he won two Valve-sponsored major championships under the dream green team during The Boston Major 2016 and The Kiev Major 2017.