P. V. Sindhu


P. V. Sindhu
NAC Jewellers Honors Olympic Silver Medalist PV Sindhu.jpg
Sindhu in 2016
Personal information
Birth namePusarla Venkata Sindhu
CountryIndia
Born5 July 1995 (age 22)
Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh, India[1]
Residence[2] Hyderabad,Telangana, India
Height5'8 ft
Weight65 kg (143 lb)
Years active2009–present
HandednessRight
Coach Mulyo Handoyo
Women's Singles
Highest ranking2 (4 April 2017[3])
Current ranking3 (07 December 2017[4])

.
Pusarla Venkata Sindhu (born 5 July 1995) is an Indian professional badminton player, who is currently world no 3 in the BWF World Ranking. At the 2016 Summer Olympics, she became the first Indian woman to win an Olympic silver medal. She is one of the two Indian badminton players to ever win an Olympic medal – other being Saina Nehwal. She was also a silver medalist at the 2017 BWF World Championships and, in 2017, became first Indian ever to win Korea Open Super Series.
Sindhu came to international attention when she broke into the top 20 of the BWF World Ranking in September 2012 at the age of 17. In 2013, she became the first ever Indian women's singles player to win a medal at the Badminton World Championships. In March 2015, she is the recipient of India's fourth highest civilian honor, the Padma Shri. Her silver medal win in the women's singles event of the 2016 Summer Olympics made her the first Indian shuttler to reach the final of an Olympics badminton event and the youngest Indian to make a podium finish in an individual event at the Olympics. She is one among the top five shuttlers in women' s singles category.

    Childhood and early training

    Pusarla Venkata Sindhu was born to P. V. Ramana of Eluru, West Godavari district and P. Vijaya of Vijayawada, Krishna district. She lives in Hyderabad. In 2000, Ramana was awarded Arjuna Award for his sport.[9][10] Though her parents played professional volleyball, Sindhu chose badminton over it because she drew inspiration from the success of Pullela Gopichand, the 2001 All England Open Badminton Champion.[11] She eventually started playing badminton from the age of eight.[9]
    Sindhu 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.[11] While profiling Sindhu's career, a correspondent with The Hindu wrote:
    The fact that she reports on time at the coaching camps daily, travelling 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.[11]
    Gopichand seconded this correspondent's opinion when he said that "the most striking feature in Sindhu's game is her attitude and the never-say-die spirit."[12] After joining Gopichand's badminton academy, Sindhu 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, Sindhu 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 School Games in India.[9]

    Career

    In the international circuit, Sindhu was a bronze medallist at the 2009 Sub-Junior Asian Badminton Championships held in Colombo.[13] At the 2010 Iran Fajr International Badminton Challenge, she won the silver medal in the singles category.[14]Sindhu reached the quarterfinals of the 2010 Junior World Badminton Championships that was held in Mexico.[15] She was a team member in India's national team at the 2010 Uber Cup.[16].

    2012

    On 14 June 2012, Sindhu lost to Germany's “Juliane Schenkin”Indonesia Open, 21–14, 21–14.[17] On 7 July 2012, she won Asia Youth Under 19 Championship beating Japanese Player Nozomi Okuhara in final by 18–21, 21–17, 22–20.[18] In the 2012 Li Ning China Masters Super Series tournament she stunned London 2012 Olympics gold medallist Li Xuerui of China, beating her 21–19, 9–21, 21–16 and entered the semifinals[19] but lost to 4th seeded Jiang Yanjiao of China by 10–21, 21–14, 19–21 in the semifinals.[20] A lot was expected from Sindhu in the Japan Open after her exploits in the China Open, given China pulled many of its players out of the tournament citing security reasons.[21] But she bowed out in the second round to Korean shuttler Bae Yeon Ju for 21–10, 12–21, 18–21.
    Sindhu 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.[23] It was later revealed that Sindhu 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]
    Sindhu finished runner-up in the Syed Modi India Grand Prix Gold event held in Lucknow in December 2012.[25] She didn't lose a single set coming into the final, but was upset by the Indonesian Linda Weni Fanetri for 21–15, 18–21, 21–18.[26]She reached her career best ranking of 15.

    2013

    She won Malaysian open title 2013, beating her opponent from Singapore, Gu Juan, by 21–17, 17–21, 21–19. This was Sindhu's first Grand Prix Gold title.
    PV Sindhu on 8 August 2013 defeated the defending champion, second-seeded Wang Yihan of China, to enter the women's quarterfinals at the BWF World Championships. The 18-year-old, 10th-seeded Sindhu won 21–18, 23–21 in 54 minutes to set-up a meeting with another Chinese player, Wang Shixian. She beat Wang Shixian 21–18, 21–17 to become India's first medalist in women's singles at the World Championships.
    In the 2013 Indian Badminton League, Sindhu was the captain of the team Awadhe Warriors. Her team qualified for the semifinal, 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 December 1, 2013. The top-seeded 18-year-old won the match 21–15, 21–12 in 37 minutes. She was awarded Arjun Award by Government of India.[29]

    2014

    PV Sindhu reached the semifinal stage of 2014 Commonwealth Games in the women's singles competition, which she lost to Michelle Li of Canada.[30] PV Sindhu 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 in 2014 BWF World Championships held in Denmark.
    Sindhu defeated Wang Shixian in three sets 19–21, 21–19, 21–15, with the match lasting more than an hour. She had earlier defeated Bae Yeon-ju in the third round with 19–21, 22–20, and 25–23. However, she lost to the eventual gold medalist, Carolina Marin, in straight sets and had to settle with bronze medal together with Minatsu Mitani.

    2015

    In October, playing at the Denmark Open, Sindhu 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.[31]
    In November, defending champion P. V. Sindhu 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.

    2016

    In January, Sindhu won the Malaysia Masters Grand Prix Gold women's singles title after beating Scotland's Kirsty Gilmourin the final. She had also won this tournament in 2013.
    In the 2016 Premier Badminton league, Sindhu 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 semifinal. However, in the semifinal. her team was beaten by Delhi Acers.

    Rio Olympics 2016

    At the women's singles event, Sindhu was drawn with Hungarian Laura Sárosi and Canadian Michelle Li in Group M.During the group stage matches, she beat Laura Sárosi (2–0) and Michelle Li (2–1). Further she ousted Chinese Taipei's Tai Tzu-ying (2–0) in the round of 16[37] to meet the second seed Wang Yihan in the quarterfinals, whom she defeated in straight sets.[38]
    Sindhu later faced the Japanese Nozomi Okuhara in the semifinals, won in straight sets, and ensuring her a podium finish.[39] This set the stage for her final showdown with top seed from Spain, Carolina Marín.[40] Marin managed to beat Sindhu in three sets in the 83-minute match.[41] With that result, Sindhu clinched the silver medal.[42][43] She charted history of achieving the feat as she is youngest and first women 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.[44][45][46]

    2017

    In the India Open superseries, Sindhu won the title by defeating Carolina Marin in straight games. In the BWF World Championships held from 21 to 27 August 2017 at Emirates Arena in Glasgow, Scotland, Sindhu had to settle for silver after losing to Japan's Nozomi Okuhara in the finals with scores 19-21, 22-20, 20-22. Sindhu avenged her world championships loss to Okuhara by beating her in the final of the Victor Korea Open superseries, winning 22-20, 11-21,21-18
    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.[48]

    Honours

    Achievements

    Individual titles

    S. No.YearTournamentOpponent in finalScoreResult
    12011Indonesia InternationalIndonesia Fransisca Ratnasari21–16, 21–11[49]Won
    22013Malaysia MastersSingapore Gu Juan21–17, 17–21, 21–19Won
    32013Macau OpenCanada Michelle Li21–15, 21–12Won
    42014Macau OpenSouth Korea Kim Hyo-min21–12, 21–17Won
    52015Macau OpenJapan Minatsu Mitani21–9, 21–23, 21–14Won
    62016Malaysia MastersScotland Kirsty Gilmour21–15, 21–9Won
    72016China OpenChina Sun Yu21–11, 17–21, 21–11Won
    82017Syed Modi InternationalIndonesia Gregoria Mariska21–13, 21–14Won
    92017India OpenSpain Carolina Marin21–19, 21–16Won
    102017Korea OpenJapan Nozomi Okuhara22–20, 11-21, 21–18Won
         Super Series Premier
         Super Series
         Grand Prix Gold
         International Challenge

    Individual runners-up[edit]

    S. No.YearTournamentOpponent in finalScore
    12011Dutch OpenNetherlands Yao Jie16–21, 17–21
    22012Syed Modi InternationalIndonesia Lindaweni Fanetri15–21, 21–18, 18–21
    32014Syed Modi InternationalIndia Saina Nehwal14–21, 17–21
    42015Denmark OpenChina Li Xuerui19–21, 12–21
    62016Hong Kong OpenChinese Taipei Tai Tzu-ying15–21, 17–21
    72016OlympicsSpain Carolina Marin21-19, 12–21, 15-21
    82017World ChampionshipsJapan Nozomi Okuhara19-21, 22–20, 20-22
    92017Hong Kong OpenChinese Taipei Tai Tzu-ying18–21, 18–21
         Olympic Games
         BWF Event
         Super Series Premier
         Super Series
         Grand Prix Gold
         Grand Prix

    Career overview[edit]

    * Statistics were last updated on 16 September 2017.[50]

    Singles performance timeline[edit]

    Key
    WFSFQF#RRRQ#ASF-BSGNHN/A
    Tournament200920102011201220132014201520162017SRBest
    BWF events
    BWF World Junior Championships2RQF3RAN/A0/3QF ('10)
    BWF World ChampionshipsANHBBQFNHS0/4F ('17)
    OlympicsNHDNQNHSNH0/2F ('16)
    BWF Super Series
    England All England Super Series PremierA1R2R1RA1RQF0/5QF ('17)
    India India Open Super SeriesN/A1RQFSF1RAQFW1/6W ('17)
    Malaysia Malaysia Super Series PremierAQ1[51]1R2RAQF1R0/5QF ('16)
    Singapore Singapore Open Super SeriesA1RAQFA2RQF0/4QF ('14, '17)
    Indonesia Indonesia Super Series PremierA2RA1R1RA2R0/42R ('12, '17)
    Australia Australian Open Super SeriesN/AQF1R1RQF0/4QF ('14, '17)
    Japan Japan Open Super SeriesA2R2RA1RA2R0/42R ('12, '13, '17)
    South Korea Korea Open Super SeriesAQ2[52]2RA2RAW1/4W ('17)
    Denmark Denmark Super Series PremierA1RQFF2R1R0/5F ('15)
    France French Open Super SeriesA2R1R1R2RSF0/5SR ('17)
    China China Open Super Series PremierAQ2[53]1RA2RWQF1/5W ('16)
    Hong Kong Hong Kong Open Super SeriesAQ2[54]1R1R2R1RFF0/6F ('16,'17)
    China China Masters Super SeriesASFAN/A0/1SF ('12)
    BWF Super Series Masters FinalsDNQSF0/1SF ('16)
    BWF Grand Prix Gold and Grand Prix
    Malaysia Malaysia Masters Grand Prix GoldASFWASFWA2/4W ('13, '16)
    India Syed Modi Grand Prix GoldQF[55]SF[56]2R[57]FNHFSF2RW1/8W ('17)
    Germany German Open Grand Prix GoldA1R[58]AQFA0/2QF ('16)
    Switzerland Swiss Open Grand Prix GoldN/AA1R2RSFAQFA0/4SF ('14)
    China China Masters Grand Prix GoldN/AAQFA0/1QF ('16)
    Chinese Taipei Chinese Taipei Grand Prix GoldA2RA0/12R ('15)
    Vietnam Vietnam Open Grand PrixAQF[59]A0/1QF ('11)
    Indonesia Indonesian Masters Grand Prix GoldAQFA0/1QF ('15)
    Thailand Thailand Open Grand Prix GoldA2RA0/12R ('12)
    Netherlands Dutch Open Grand PrixAF[60]A0/1F ('12)
    Macau Macau Open Grand Prix GoldAWWWA3/3W ('13, '14, '15)
    India India Open Grand Prix GoldQ2[61]2R[62]N/A0/22R ('10)
    Year-end Ranking[63]25515131191111126

    Record against selected players[edit]

    Record against the Super Series finalists, the World Championships semifinalists, and the Olympic quarterfinalists (as of 20 November 2016):[64]
    OpponentRecordOpponentRecordOpponentRecordOpponentRecord
    China He Bingjiao5–5China Jiang Yanjiao0–2China Li Xuerui2–3China Sun Yu4–4
    China Wang Lin0–1China Wang Shixian4–6China Wang Yihan3–4China Yao Xue1–1
    Chinese Taipei Tai Tzu-ying3–8Denmark Tine Baun0–1Germany Juliane Schenk0–2Hong Kong Yip Pui Yin2–0
    India Saina Nehwal1–1Indonesia Lindaweni Fanetri8–2Japan Akane Yamaguchi4–2Japan Eriko Hirose1–3
    Japan Minatsu Mitani3–2Japan Nozomi Okuhara4–5Japan Yui Hashimoto1–1South Korea Bae Yeon-ju1–3
    South Korea Sung Ji-hyun7–4Spain Carolina Marin5–6Thailand Porntip Buranaprasertsuk5–4Thailand Ratchanok Intanon2–4