PV Sindhu, from Hyderabad, is India’s leading female professional badminton player .
Sindhu started playing badminton at the age of eight after getting inspired by India’s former top male badminton player Pullela Gopichand.
She later joined his badminton academy.
Early Achievements
Sindhu won a bronze medal on her international debut at the Sub-Junior Asian Badminton Championships in 2009.
At the age of 17, she won the Asian Junior Championships.
Carried on the form
Sindhu gained international attention when she broke into the top 20 of the Badminton World Federation Rankings in Sept. 2012 at the age of 17.
She won her 1st Badminton Grand Prix (Badminton’s World Series) in 2013 when she won the Malaysian Open title.
She then won bronze and silver medals at Commonwealth Games in 2014 and 2018 respectively.
Nation’s Pride
One of the biggest moments of Sindhu’s career came in the year 2016 when she won a silver medal at the Rio Olympics.
Just last week, Sindhu won a gold medal at the BWF World Championships 2019 becoming the 1st Indian to achieve this feat.
Big money and fame
Sindhu was ranked 13th in Forbes’ list of 2019’s highest-paid female athletes.
She earned $5.5 million (nearly Rs. 40 crores) from prize money and endorsements between June 2018 to June 2019.
In 2013, she was awarded the Arjuna Award, one of the highest sporting honours in India.
She was presented with India’s 4th highest civilian honour, The Padma Shri Award, in 2016