P. V. Sindhu

Pusarla Venkata Sindhu (born 5 July 1995) is an Indian professional badminton player. Over the course of her career, Pusarla has won medals at multiple tournaments including Olympics and on the BWF circuit including a gold at the 2019 World Championships. She is the first Indian to become the Badminton World Champion and the first Indian woman to earn an Olympic silver medal. She rose to a career high World ranking of no. 2 in April 2017.
Pusarla broke into the top 20 of the BWF World Ranking in September 2012 at the age of 17. Beginning in 2013, Pusarla won a medal at every world championships, with the exception of 2015. She is just the second woman after Zhang Ning to win five or more medals at the world championships. Pusarla represented India at the 2016 Summer Olympics, becoming the first Indian badminton player to reach a final. She won the silver medal after losing out to Spain's Carolina Marin.
Pusarla won her first superseries title at the 2016 China Open and followed it up with four more finals in 2017, winning the titles in South Korea and India. In addition to that, she has won a silver medal each at the 2018 Commonwealth Games and 2018 Asian Games, and two bronze medals at the Uber Cup.
With earnings of US$8.5 million and $5.5 million respectively, Pusarla made the "Forbes" list of Highest-Paid Female Athletes in 2018 and 2019. She is the recipient of the sports honour Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna, and India's fourth highest civilian award, the Padma Shri. She was also honoured with Padma Bhushan, the third highest civilian award in India, in January 2020.
Early life and training.
Pusarla Venkata Sindhu was born in Hyderabad to P. V. Ramana and P. Vijaya. Both her parents have been national level volleyball players. Her father, Ramana, who was a member of the Indian volleyball team that won the bronze medal in 1986 Seoul Asian Games, received the Arjuna Award in 2000 for his contribution to the sports.
Pusarla lives in Hyderabad, Telangana. She was educated at Auxilium High School, Hyderabad and at St. Ann's College for Women, Hyderabad. Though her parents played professional volleyball, Pusarla chose badminton over it because she drew inspiration from the success of Pullela Gopichand, the 2001 All England Open Badminton Champion. She eventually started playing badminton from the age of eight.
Pusarla first learned the basics of the sport with the guidance of Mehboob Ali at the badminton courts of Indian Railway Institute of Signal Engineering and Telecommunications in Secunderabad. Soon after, she joined Pullela Gopichand's Gopichand Badminton Academy. While profiling Pusarla's career, a correspondent with "The Hindu" wrote:
"The fact that she reports on time at the coaching camps daily, traveling a distance of 56 km from her residence, is perhaps a reflection of her willingness to complete her desire to be a good badminton player with the required hard work and commitment."
Gopichand seconded this correspondent's opinion when he said that "the most striking feature in Pusarla's game is her attitude and the never-say-die spirit." After joining Gopichand's badminton academy, Pusarla won several titles. In the under-10 years category, she won the 5th Servo All India ranking championship in the doubles category and the singles title at the Ambuja Cement All India ranking. In the under-13 years category, Pusarla won the singles title at the Sub-juniors in Pondicherry, doubles titles at the Krishna Khaitan All India Tournament IOC All India Ranking, the Sub-Junior Nationals and the All India Ranking in Pune. She also won the under-14 team gold medal at the 51st National State Games in India.
Career.
2009–2011.
Pusarla entered the international circuit at a young age of 14. She was a bronze medallist at the 2009 Sub-Junior Asian Badminton Championships held in Colombo. At the 2010 Iran Fajr International Badminton Challenge, she won the silver medal in the singles category. Pusarla reached the quarterfinals of the 2010 BWF World Junior Championships that was held in Mexico where she lost to Chinese Suo Di in a 3-gamer.
In 2011, She won Maldives International Challenge in June defeating compatriot P.C. Thulasi. She also won Indonesia International Challenge next month. She was the finalist at the Dutch Open where she lost to home player Yao Jie with scores 16–21, 17–21. Her successful run continued after she won Swiss International beating Carola Bott of Germany in the Final. She lost in second round of 2011 BWF World Junior Championships to Yuki Fukushima in a very close match 21–15, 18–21, 21–23. She won India International badminton event later in the year, defeating Sayali Gokhale.
2012.
A 16-year-old Pusarla went on to compete at the All England Open Championships as a qualifier. She reached the main draw but lost to Tai Tzu-ying in 3 games. On 7 July 2012, she won Asian Junior Championships beating Japanese Player Nozomi Okuhara in final by 18–21, 21–17, 22–20. In the Li Ning China Masters Super Series tournament she stunned London 2012 Olympics gold medallist Li Xuerui, beating her 21–19, 9–21, 21–16 and entered the semi-finals. however she lost to 4th seeded Jiang Yanjiao of China by 10–21, 21–14, 19–21 in next round.
Pusarla then went on to participate in the 77th Senior National Badminton Championships held at Srinagar. She was defeated in the finals by Sayali Gokhale for 15–21, 21–15, 15–21. It was later revealed that Pusarla injured her knee in the China Open and she carried this injury through the Japan Open and the nationals. She decided to skip the World Junior Championships so as not to aggravate the injury. Pusarla finished runner-up in the Syed Modi India Grand Prix Gold event held in Lucknow in December 2012 after going down to Lindaweni Fanetri in 3 games.
2013.
She stunned Wang Shixian in the 2nd round of Asian Championships in tough games to reach the quarterfinal, but lost to Eriko Hirose of Japan in yet another 3 set clash. She reached her career-best ranking of 15. She won Malaysian title, beating Singaporean Gu Juan, by 21–17, 17–21, 21–19. This was Pusarla's first Grand Prix Gold title. She participated in the 2013 World Championships, where she was seeded 10th in the draw. She defeated Japanese Kaori Imabeppu in 1st round in 3 games 21–19, 19–21, 21–17 & reached the 2nd round. She downed the defending champion, second-seeded Wang Yihan of China with score 21–18, 23–21 in 54 minutes, to enter the quarterfinals. She set-up a meeting with another higher-seeded Chinese player, Wang Shixian & beat her 21–18, 21–17 to become India's only second medalist in the singles event at the Badminton World Championships since Prakash Padukone's Bronze medal back in 1983. She lost in the semi-final to ultimate champion Ratchanok Intanon.
She was awarded the Arjun Award by Government of India.
In the 2013 Indian Badminton League, Pusarla was the captain of the team Awadhe Warriors. Her team qualified for the semi-final, where they beat Mumbai Marathas, but lost in the final to Hyderabad HotShots. She won Macau Open Grand Prix Gold title by defeating Canada's Michelle Li on 1 December 2013. The top-seeded 18-year-old won the match 21–15, 21–12 in 37 minutes.
2014.
She reached the final of 2014 India Open Grand Prix Gold but lost to her senior compatriot Saina Nehwal. She claimed her first medal at the Asian Championships after beating Busanan Ongbamrungphan in quarterfinal. Pusarla reached the semi-final stage of 2014 Commonwealth Games in the women's singles competition, which she lost to eventual gold medallist Michelle Li of Canada. She later won against Malaysian Tee Jing Yi to claim the bronze medal.
In the 2014 World Championships held in Denmark, she was seeded 11th. She powered past Russian Olga Arkhangelskaya in round 1 in 2 easy games. She had tough encounter against Bae Yeon-ju in the round of 16 where she edged a close win 19–21, 22–20, 25–23.
Pusarla later created history by becoming the first Indian to win two back-to-back medals in the BWF World Badminton Championships after her bronze medal finish last year by beating Wang Shixian in quarterfinals in three sets 19–21, 21–19, 21–15; with the match lasting more than an hour. However, in semis, she lost to the eventual gold medalist, Carolina Marin, in straight sets and had to settle for bronze medal. She defended her Macau Open title by beating Kim Hyo-min of South Korea in final in year-end.
2015.
She was almost on verge of victory against Li Xuerui in Asian Championships, but lost 21–11, 19–21, 8–21. At the 2015 World Championships, she defeated Line Højmark Kjærsfeldt of Denmark in 1st round after being a game down. She then stunned 3rd seeded Li Xuerui in Round of 16 and once again reached the quarterfinals of world championships. But this time she suffered defeat, against her Korean Opponent Sung Ji-hyun in a desperately close match 21–17, 19–21, 16–21.
In October, playing at the Denmark Open, Pusarla reached to her maiden final of a Super Series event. On her route to the final, she defeated three seeded players, namely Tai Tzu-ying, Wang Yihan and Carolina Marin. In the final, she lost to the defending champion Li Xuerui in straight games by 19–21, 12–21. In November, defending champion Pusarla won her third successive women's singles title at the Macau Open Grand Prix Gold after defeating Japan's Minatsu Mitani in the final by 21–9, 21–23, 21–14.
She suffered a stress fracture in 2015 that kept her from playing for nearly six months, yet managed to qualify for the 2016 Rio Olympics.
2016.
In January, Pusarla won the Malaysia Masters Grand Prix Gold women's singles title after beating Scotland's Kirsty Gilmour in the final. She had also won this tournament in 2013. She lost a close match at the Asian Championships to Tai Tzu-ying in 2nd round in which she failed to capitalise on the Match point and suffered defeat. In the 2016 Premier Badminton League, Pusarla was the captain of Chennai Smashers team. In the group league, she won all of the five matches to help her team qualify for the semi-final and won the tournament against Mumbai Rockets.
At the women's singles event, at Rio Olympics Pusarla was seeded 9th in the Draw in Group M. In the group stage, she defeated Hungary's Laura Sárosi (2–0) and Canada's Michelle Li (2–1). Further she ousted Tai Tzu-ying (2–0) in the round of 16 to meet the second seeded Wang Yihan in the quarterfinals, whom she defeated in straight sets. Pusarla later faced the Japanese star Nozomi Okuhara in the semi-finals, won in straight sets, and ensuring a podium finish. This set the stage for her final showdown with top seed from Spain, Carolina Marín. Marin managed to beat Pusarla in three sets in the 83-minute match. With that result, Pusarla clinched the silver medal. She charted history of achieving the feat as she is youngest and first female individual to bag an Olympic Silver medal representing India. This was the second instance of podium finish at the Olympics by any Indian badminton player.
She clinched title at the Thaihot China Open beating Sun Yu scoring 21–11, 17–21, 21–11 & became only Indian player after Saina Nehwal to do so. She was also a finalist at the Hongkong Open after going down to Tai Tzu-ying in straight games. With her consistent performances, she qualified for Superseries Finals. She defeated Akane Yamaguchi (2–1), lost to Sun Yu (0–2) and won against Carolina Marín (2–0) in the Group stage. With 2 wins in the group, she reached semi-finals. She was stopped there in semis by Sung Ji-hyun with score 15–21, 21–18, 15–21. In just her first ever appearance in this tournament, she managed to reach semi-final stage.
2017.
She won Syed Modi International by beating Gregoria Mariska Tunjung of Indonesia in Final. In the India Open Superseries, Pusarla won the title by defeating Carolina Marin in straight games. In April 2017, she achieved a career-high world ranking of number 2. In the 2017 World Championships held in Scotland, Pusarla was seeded 4th. In the round of 32, she defeated Korean Kim Hyo-min in straight games. She survived a difficult challenge from Hongkonger Cheung Ngan Yi in the next round, beating her in 3 tight games 19–21, 23–21, 21–17. She thereafter eased past Sun Yu in quarterfinal & another Chinese Chen Yufei in semi-final both in straight games. She had to settle for silver after
losing to Nozomi Okuhara in the finals with scores (19–21, 22–20, 20–22), In a match lasting 110 Minutes thus making it the 2nd longest Women's Singles match in History of Badminton. Her final against Okuhara is widely regarded as one of the best ever women's singles final.
Pusarla defeated Okuhara in the final of the 2017 Korea Open Super Series by 22–20, 11–21, 21–18, thereby becoming the first Indian to win Korea Open. In August, she took charges as Deputy Collector in Krishna District in the Chief Commissioner of Land Administration (CCLA) office under the Revenue Department of the Government of Andhra Pradesh. She set up a repeat clash of last year's final in the Hongkong Open, which she again lost to Tai Tzu-ying in straight games. In the Group stage of Dubai World Superseries Finals, she won all of her matches against He Bingjiao (2–1), Sayaka Sato (2–0) & Akane Yamaguchi (2–0). She put her good show against Chen Yufei (2–0) & reached the final. She had another runner-up finish after being defeated by Japan's Akane Yamaguchi 21–15, 12–21, 19–21 in 94 minutes.
2018.
Pusarla faltered in the final again, this time at her home event, the India Open, where she had Match point in the 3rd game but couldn't convert it and Lost the match to Zhang Beiwen. At the All England Open Championships, Pusarla made it to the top 4, before losing to world number 3 Akane Yamaguchi in the semi-final with the score 21–19, 19–21, 18–21. This is Pusarla's best performance at the 2018 All England Open. Pusarla competed at the 2018 Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast, winning a Gold in the mixed team event and silver medal in the singles event. Her Jinx of losing in finals continued after she went down to Nozomi Okuhara in the final of Thailand Open.
Pusarla was seeded 3rd in the 2018 BWF World Championships. She won her opening encounters against Fitriani & Sung Ji-hyun both in straight games. She then faced defending champion Nozomi Okuhara, whom she also defeated with 21–17, 21–19. In the semi-finals, she defeated 2nd seeded Akane Yamaguchi also in 2 games 21–16, 24–22. She won her second consecutive silver medal after losing to Carolina Marín in finals 19–21, 10–21. This was her total fourth medal at the Worlds.
Pusarla was seeded 3rd in the 2018 Asian Games. In the first round, she defeated Vietnamese Vu Thi Trang in 3 games 21–10, 12–21, 23–21 in a very difficult encounter. She then faced Gregoria Mariska Tunjung and beat her with 21–12, 21–15 scoreline. She had to again battle to get past Thai Nitchaon Jindapol in the quarterfinal. She then defeated Akane Yamaguchi in the semi-final to enter the final round. By losing to world number one Tai Tzu-Ying in the final, she got the historic first silver medal for India in Women's singles badminton.
Pusarla qualified for the 2018 BWF World Tour Finals in the year-end. In the group stage, she defeated defending champion Akane Yamaguchi (2–0), Top seed Tai Tzu Ying (2–1) & In her third match, she defeated Zhang Beiwen comfortably in two games to progress to the semi-finals. In the semi-final she defeated Ratchanok Intanon (2–0) to reach the final. She defeated her arch-rival Nozomi Okuhara scoring 21–19, 21–17 & became only shuttler from India to claim the Title at the year-end finale.
2019–20.
Pusarla was brought by the defending champions Hyderabad Hunters in the PBL auctions 2018 and was named as their skipper. They lost the semi-finals to Mumbai Rockets. Pusarla competed at the Indian National Badminton Championships where she reached the final losing to three-time champion Saina Nehwal 18–21, 15–21. Just before the All England Badminton Championships she had ended her deal with Yonex and signed a mega-deal with Li-Ning for 4 years worth nearly . This led to her having a new racket and equipment to which she had to get used to within 2–3 weeks time to debut it at the prestigious All England Badminton Championships. She reached her first final of the season in the Indonesia Open, where she lost to Akane Yamaguchi of Japan 15–21, 16–21.
At the World Championships, she was seeded fifth. She opened her campaign with a straight sets victories over Pai Yu-po & Zhang Beiwen in successive rounds. She impressed everyone with her victory over Tai Tzu-ying. She defeated Tai, coming from a game down 12–21, 23–21, 21–19 to make the semi-final. In the semi-final, she defeated Chen Yufei in straight sets to enter her third consecutive World Championships final. In the final against Nozomi Okuhara, she won 21–7, 21–7. In the process, she became the first Indian to win gold at the championships.
Despite her ranking as 15th on the World Tour, she got a wild card entry into the 2019 BWF World Tour Finals because of her World Title victory in August this Year.
She competed in World Tour Finals in Guangzhou as a defending champion but failed to reach the knockout phase after losing out to Chen Yufei (1–2) & Akane Yamaguchi (1–2) in successive rounds. She finished off as 3rd in the group after defeating He Bingjiao with score 21–19, 21–19 in her last match. 
Pusarla was named the BBC Indian Sportswoman of Year on 8 March 2020. In April, she was elected as one of the ambassadors of BWF Committee's campaign – "I am Badminton" to promote clean and fair play in the sport. 
2021.
Pusarla reaching her first final in over 18 months, at the Swiss Open, she suffered a demoralising defeat against Carolina Marín, losing 12–21, 5–21; not being able to match the speed and accuracy of Marin's play. She then was defeated by Pornpawee Chochuwong of Thailand in the semifinals of the All England Open in straight game losing out in 17-21, 9-21. In May, she was elected as one of the two ambassadors from badminton in the International Olympic Committee's campaign ‘Believe in Sport’ aimed at preventing competition manipulation in the sport.
Endorsements.
An Economic Times report published in March 2017, said that she is second only to Indian cricket captain Virat Kohli when it comes to earnings from brand endorsements. Pusarla charges brands anywhere between and for a single day of endorsement-related activities.
Pusarla has endorsement deals with JBL, Bridgestone Tyres, sports drink Gatorade, pain reliever ointment Moov, online fashion store Myntra, e-commerce portal Flipkart, phone maker Nokia and electronics major Panasonic. She also endorses Stayfree, health drink Boost, honey producer APIS Himalaya, herbal health drink firm Ojasvita and the Bank of Baroda. She is also a brand ambassador for both the Central Reserve Police Force and Vizag Steel.
In February 2019, it was announced that Pusarla had signed a four-year sports sponsorship deal for with Chinese sports brand Li Ning. Pusarla's deal is one of the biggest in world badminton. Pusarla reportedly will get as sponsorship while the rest of the money will be for equipment. This was Li-Ning's second stint with Pusarla, who was with them for two years in 2014-2015 for a sum of a year. In 2016, Pusarla was back with Yonex for a per year contract for a period of three years.
Achievements.
Olympic Games.
"Women's singles"
BWF World championships.
"Women's singles"
Asian Games.
"Women's singles"
Asian Championships.
"Women's singles"
Commonwealth Games.
"Women's singles"
South Asian Games.
"Women's singles"
Commonwealth Youth Games.
"Girls' singles"
Asian Junior Championships.
"Girls' Singles"
BWF World Tour (1 title, 4 runners-up).
The BWF World Tour, which was announced on 19 March 2017 and implemented in 2018, is a series of elite badminton tournaments sanctioned by the Badminton World Federation (BWF). The BWF World Tours are divided into levels of World Tour Finals, Super 1000, Super 750, Super 500, Super 300 (part of the HSBC World Tour), and the BWF Tour Super 100.
"Women's singles"
BWF Superseries (3 titles, 4 runners-up).
The BWF Superseries, which was launched on 14 December 2006 and implemented in 2007, was a series of elite badminton tournaments, sanctioned by the Badminton World Federation (BWF). BWF Superseries levels were Superseries and Superseries Premier. A season of Superseries consistde of twelve tournaments around the world that had been introduced since 2011. Successful players were invited to the Superseries Finals, which were held at the end of each year.
"Women's singles"
BWF Grand Prix (6 titles, 3 runners-up).
The BWF Grand Prix had two levels, the BWF Grand Prix and Grand Prix Gold. It was a series of badminton tournaments sanctioned by the Badminton World Federation (BWF) which was held from 2007 to 2017.
"Women's singles"
BWF International Challenge/Series (4 titles, 1 runner-up).
"Women's singles"
Invitational tournament.
"Women's singles"
Record against selected opponents.
Record against Year-end Finals finalists, World Championships semi-finalists, and Olympic quarter-finalists. Accurate as of 19 March 2021.
Personal life.
Pusarla has been employed with Bharat Petroleum since July 2013, as an assistant sports manager with their Hyderabad office. Following her silver-medal win at the Rio Olympics, she was promoted to deputy sports manager. She was appointed as the first brand ambassador of Bridgestone India.
She was also appointed as the Deputy Collector (Group-I) by the Andhra Pradesh government.
She was the flag bearer for the Indian contingent in the opening ceremony of the 2018 Commonwealth Games.