P.V. Sindhu

P.V. Sindhu (born July 5, 1995, Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh state [now in Telangana state], India) is a professional badminton player from India who has made her mark in the 21st century with a number of wins at the Commonwealth Games, the Badminton World Federation (BWF) Championships, and the Olympic Games. She is the first Indian woman to win two Olympic medals—a silver medal at the Rio de Janeiro 2016 Olympic Games and a bronze at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games (held in 2021 because of the COVID-19 pandemic)—in addition to being the first Indian woman to win a gold medal at the BWF Championships (2019). She has received some of the highest sporting honors and civilian awards in India, including the Padma Shri (2015), the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award (2016; the honor was later renamed to Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award), and the Padma Bhushan (2020). She ranked number 16 on Forbes magazine’s list of highest-paid female athletes in 2023.

Early life

Sindhu is the younger of two daughters born to P.V. Ramana and P. Vijaya, both national-level volleyball players. While growing up, she often accompanied her parents to their South Central Railway volleyball teams’ practices and matches; however, she never took an interest in playing the sport. When Sindhu was six years old, badminton caught her attention when she saw legendary player Pullela Gopichand win the 2001 All England Open Badminton Championships. Her father signed her up for training at the Mahboob Ali Badminton Academy when she was eight. She then went on to train with S.M. Arif, former chief national badminton coach, at the Lal Bahadur Shastri Stadium, Hyderabad, and eventually with Gopichand at the Pullela Gopichand Badminton Academy in Hyderabad.

Sindhu and her father traveled 30 km (19 miles) each way twice a day so she could train at Gopichand’s academy, and working with him paid off for the young athlete. She won the all-India ranking tournament in the under-10 singles category and later in the under-13 doubles category. She won the gold medal in the under-14 category at the 51st National School Games of India.

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In 2009 Sindhu made her international debut at the Sub-Junior Asian Badminton Championships and took home a bronze medal. At the India Open the same year, she made her senior debut although she was still playing at the junior level then. In 2010 she was a runner-up at the Iran Fajr International Challenge and a quarterfinalist at the Junior World Badminton Championships in Mexico.

Career

Sindhu won her first senior title in women’s singles at the Maldives International Challenge in 2011. At the BWF World Championships in 2013, she won a bronze medal in women’s singles. Also in 2013 she received the Arjuna Award from India’s Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports for outstanding performance in sports and games, one of the country’s highest honors for an athlete.

Sindhu competed in her first Commonwealth Games in 2014 and took the bronze medal in women’s singles. She also won a bronze in women’s singles at the 2014 BWF World Championships, becoming the first Indian player to win back-to-back medals at the yearly event. Sindhu’s 2015 season included reaching the final of the Denmark Open and winning the women’s singles title at the Macau Open Grand Prix Gold for the third consecutive year. She was awarded the Padma Shri for 2015 by the government of India for her outstanding performance in sports.

A standout moment of Sindhu’s career came at the Rio 2016 Olympics when she became the youngest (at age 21) and first Indian woman to win a silver medal. For her efforts in Rio, she was honored with the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award, India’s highest sporting honor. She followed that up by winning her first Super Series title at the China Open in November of that year and then went on to win three more Super Series titles: the India Open in April 2017, the Korea Open in September 2017, and the BWF World Tour Finals in December 2018, a first for an Indian athlete.

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At the 2018 Commonwealth Games, Sindhu took the silver in women’s singles and the gold in the mixed team event. That same year Sindhu won the silver medal at the Asian Games and the BWF World Championships. The following year she won the gold medal at the 2019 BWF World Championships, making her the first Indian woman to win the gold and the most successful Indian ever at the championships, having earned a total of five medals by 2019: one gold (2019), two silver (2017 and 2018), and two bronze (2013 and 2014). In recognition of Sindhu’s achievements, the Indian government awarded her the prestigious Padma Bhushan for 2020.

In 2021 Sindhu won the bronze medal at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, making her the first Indian woman to win two Olympic medals. She went on to take the bronze medal at the Badminton Asia Championships in 2022 and followed that up with her first Commonwealth Games gold medal, despite suffering a stress fracture to her left ankle during play.

Sindhu’s injury meant that she was not in top form in 2023, but she managed to secure India’s first medal, a bronze, at the Badminton Asia Mixed Team Championships in February that year. In October of the same year, Sindhu had to withdraw from the French Open Super 750 after sustaining a knee injury, which sidelined her from tournament play for four months. She returned to competition in March 2024 at the French Open Super 750 but was eliminated in the quarterfinals.

In her quest to win an Olympic gold medal, Sindhu trained in Bengaluru, India, with Indonesian coach Agus Dwi Santoso, and in April 2024 she was selected for the Indian team competing at that year’s Games in Paris. However, she lost in the round of 16 and failed to win a medal.