P. V. Sindhu
Pusarla Venkata Sindhu is an Indian badminton player. Considered as one of India's most successful athletes, Sindhu has won medals at tournaments such as the Olympic Games, the World Championships, and on the World Tour. She is the first and only Indian to become the badminton world champion and only the second individual from India to win two consecutive medals at the Olympic Games. She rose to a career-high world ranking of No. 2 in April 2017.
Sindhu broke into the top 20 of the BWF World Rankings in September 2012, at the age of 17. She has won a total of five medals at the BWF World Championships and is only the second woman after China's Zhang Ning ever to win five or more singles medals in the competition. She represented India at the 2016 Rio Olympics, where she became the first Indian badminton player to reach the Olympic final. She won the silver medal after losing out to Spain's Carolina MarΓn. She made her second consecutive Olympic appearance at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and won a bronze medal, becoming the first-ever Indian woman to win two Olympic medals.
Sindhu won her first superseries title at the China Open Super Series Premier|2016 China Open] and followed it up with four more finals in 2017, winning the titles in South Korea and India. She also won the 2018 [BWF World Tour Finals] and remains the only Indian player to win a season finale title. She is also the reigning Commonwealth Games β Women's singles|Commonwealth Games] champion and has won three consecutive singles medals at the Commonwealth Games, a silver medal at the Asian Games, and two bronze medals at the Uber Cup.
With earnings of US$8.5 million, $5.5 million, $7.2 million, and $7.1 million, Sindhu made the Forbes list of Highest-Paid Female Athletes in 2018, 2019, 2021, 2022, 2023 and 2024. She is a recipient of the sports honours Khel Ratna Award and Arjuna Award, India's highest and second-highest sports awards, as well as the Padma Bhushan and Padma Shri, India's third-highest and fourth-highest civilian awards.
Early life and training
Pusarla Venkata Sindhu was born on 5 July 1995, in a Telugu family, to P. V. Ramana and P. Vijaya, in Hyderabad, India. Both her parents hail from Andhra Pradesh. Her mother is from Vijayawada, while her father's family is originally from Eluru and later moved to Guntur and Nirmal, where he was born. Sindhu lives in Hyderabad. She and her family regularly visit their family deity in Ratnalammakunta village of Eluru district, Andhra Pradesh. She was educated at Auxilium High School, Hyderabad, and at St. Ann's College for Women, Hyderabad.Both her parents have been national level volleyball players. Her father, Ramana, was a member of the Indian volleyball team that won the bronze medal in the 1986 Seoul Asian Games, received the Arjuna Award in 2000 for his contribution to the sport. Though her parents played professional volleyball, she 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. She first learned the basics of the sport with the guidance of Mehboob Ali at the badminton courts of the Indian Railway Institute of Signal Engineering and Telecommunications in Secunderabad. Soon after, she joined Pullela Gopichand's Gopichand Badminton Academy. While profiling her 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 Sindhu's game is her attitude and the never-say-die spirit." After joining Gopichand's badminton academy, Sindhu won several titles. In the under-10 years category, she won the fifth 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, she 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. She later parted company with Gopichand and went on to train with South Korean coach Park Tae-sang. She is currently coached by Anup Sridhar and Lee Hyun-il.
Personal life
Sindhu got engaged to businessman Venkata Datta Sai in early December 2024 and got married on 22 December.Sindhu 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 appointed as the Deputy Collector by the Andhra Pradesh government in July 2017, which she took charge later in August.
Career
2009β11
Sindhu entered the international circuit at a young age of 14 in the year 2009. She was a bronze medalist 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 women's singles. She reached the quarter-finals 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 the Maldives International Challenge in June defeating compatriot P. C. Thulasi, as well as the Indonesia International Challenge the following month. She then won the Commonwealth Youth Games by beating Soniia Cheah Su Ya of Malaysia in straight games. She was a finalist at the Dutch Open where she lost to home player Yao Jie 16β21, 17β21. Her successful run continued after she won the Swiss International beating Carola Bott of Germany in the final. She lost in the second round of the 2011 BWF World Junior Championships to Yuki Fukushima in a very close match 21β15, 18β21, 21β23. She won the India International badminton event later in the year, defeating compatriot Sayali Gokhale.
2012
A 16-year-old Sindhu went on to compete at the All England Open Championships as a qualifier. She reached the main draw but lost to Taiwan's Tai Tzu-ying in 3 games. On 7 July 2012, she won the Asian Junior Championships beating Japan's Nozomi Okuhara in the final 18β21, 21β17, 22β20, becoming India's first-ever Asian Junior Champion. In the China Masters Super Series|China Masters] Superseries tournament, she stunned London 2012 Olympics gold medalist Li Xuerui, beating her 21β19, 9β21, 21β16 and entered the semi-finals. However, she lost in the semi-finals to fourth seeded Jiang Yanjiao of China 10β21, 21β14, 19β21.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 15β21, 21β15, 15β21. It was later revealed that she had injured her knee in the China Open and had carried this injury through the Japan Open and the nationals. She decided to skip the World Junior Championships so as to not aggravate the injury. She finished runner-up in the Syed Modi India Grand Prix Gold event held in Lucknow in December, after going down to Indonesia's Lindaweni Fanetri in 3 games in the final.
2013
Sindhu stunned China's Wang Shixian in the second round of the Asian Championships in 3 tough games to reach the quarter-final, but lost to Eriko Hirose of Japan in yet another 3-game clash. She reached her career-best ranking of 15. She won the Malaysian Grand Prix Gold title, beating Singaporean Gu Juan - 21β17, 17β21, 21β19. This was her first Grand Prix Gold title. She participated in the 2013 [BWF World Championships - Women's singles|2013 World Championships], where she was seeded tenth in the draw. Having received a bye in the first round, she defeated Japanese Kaori Imabeppu in the second round in three games 21β19, 19β21, 21β17 and reached the third round. She then downed the defending champion, second-seeded Wang Yihan of China, 21β18, 23β21 to enter the quarter-finals. She set up a meeting with another higher-seeded Chinese player, Wang Shixian, and beat her 21β18, 21β17 to become only India's second medalist in the singles events at the World Championships since Prakash Padukone's bronze medal in 1983. However, she lost in the semi-final to eventual champion Ratchanok Intanon.Sindhu was awarded the Arjuna Award by the Government of India in recognition of her achievements. In the 2013 Indian Badminton League, she 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 the Macau Open Grand Prix Gold title by defeating Canada's Michelle Li 21β15, 21β12 in the final.
2014
Sindhu reached the final of the 2014 India Open Grand Prix Gold but lost to her senior compatriot Saina Nehwal. She claimed her first medal at the Asian Championships, a bronze, after beating Thailand's Busanan Ongbamrungphan in the quarter-finals. She reached the semi-final stage of the 2014 Commonwealth Games in the women's singles competition, which she lost narrowly to eventual gold medalist 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, Sindhu was seeded eleventh. She powered past Russian Olga Arkhangelskaya in her first round in two easy games. She had a tough encounter against sixth seed Bae Yeon-ju in the round of 16 where she edged a close win 19β21, 22β20, 25β23. She later created history by becoming the first Indian to win two back-to-back medals in the BWF World Championships, after her bronze medal win the previous year, by beating second seed Wang Shixian in the quarter-finals in three games 19β21, 21β19, 21β15, in a match lasting more than an hour. However, in the semi-finals, she lost to the eventual champion Carolina MarΓn in straight games and had to settle for another bronze medal. At the end of the year, she defended her Macau Open title by beating Kim Hyo-min of South Korea in the final.
2015
Sindhu was on the verge of victory against Li Xuerui in the quarter-finals of the Asian Championships, but ended up losing 21β11, 19β21, 8β21, narrowly missing out on a second consecutive Asian Championships medal. At the 2015 World Championships, where she was seeded eleventh, Sindhu defeated Line KjΓ¦rsfeldt of Denmark in the first round after being a game down. She then stunned third seeded Li Xuerui in the round of 16 and reached the quarter-finals of the World Championships once again. However, this time, she suffered defeat against her Korean opponent Sung Ji-hyun in a close quarter-finals match 21β17, 19β21, 16β21, narrowly missing out on a third consecutive World Championship medal.In October, playing at the Denmark Open, Sindhu reached her maiden Superseries tournament final, defeating three seeded players β Tai Tzu-ying, Wang Yihan and Carolina MarΓn. In the final, she lost to the defending champion Li Xuerui in straight games 19β21, 12β21. In November, the defending champion 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 21β9, 21β23, 21β14.
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, Sindhu 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 the second round, in which she failed to capitalise on a match point and suffered defeat. In the 2016 Premier Badminton League, she was the captain of the Chennai Smashers team. In the group stage of the league, she won all of her five matches to help her team qualify for the semi-final and win the tournament against Mumbai Rockets.Sindhu was seeded ninth at the Rio Olympic Games. In the group stage, she defeated Hungary's Laura SΓ‘rosi and Canada's Michelle Li. She then ousted Taiwanese eighth seed Tai Tzu-ying in the round of 16 to meet the second seeded Wang Yihan from China in the quarter-finals, whom she also defeated in straight games. She later faced sixth seeded Japanese star Nozomi Okuhara in the semi-finals and won in straight games, ensuring a podium finish. This set the stage for her final showdown with the top seed from Spain, Carolina MarΓn. Marin managed to beat her in three games in the 83-minute match. With that result, she clinched the silver medal, creating history as India's youngest individual Olympic medallist and the first Indian woman to bag an Olympic silver medal. This was only the second instance of a podium finish at the Olympics by any Indian badminton player.
Following her Olympic success, Sindhu clinched the title at the China Open beating China's Sun Yu 21β11, 17β21, 21β11. With this win, she became the second Indian player after Saina Nehwal and just the third non-Chinese women's singles player to win the China Open. She was also the runner-up at the Hong Kong Open after going down to Tai Tzu-ying in the final in straight games. With her consistent performances, she qualified for the Superseries Finals. She defeated Akane Yamaguchi, lost to Sun Yu and beat Carolina MarΓn in the group stage. With 2 wins in the group, she reached the semi-finals, managing to do so in just her first-ever appearance in the tournament. However, she was defeated in the semi-finals by Sung Ji-hyun, going down 15β21, 21β18, 15β21. Sindhu was named as the BWF Most Improved Player of the Year following her achievements in 2016.
2017
Sindhu won the Syed Modi International by beating Indonesian youngster Gregoria Mariska Tunjung in the final. In the India Open Superseries, she won the title by defeating Carolina MarΓn in straight games. In April 2017, she achieved a career-high world ranking of number 2. At the 2017 World Championships held in Scotland, she was seeded fourth. 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 close games 19β21, 23β21, 21β17. She thereafter eased past Sun Yu in the quarter-finals and another Chinese Chen Yufei in the semi-finals, both in straight games. She had to settle for silver after losing to Nozomi Okuhara in the final 19β21, 22β20, 20β22, a close and exciting match lasting 110 minutes, thus making it the second longest women's singles match in the history of badminton. Her final against Okuhara is widely regarded as one of the best ever women's singles matches in the history of the sport.Sindhu defeated Okuhara in the final of the 2017 Korea Open Super Series 22β20, 11β21, 21β18, thereby becoming the first Indian to win the Korea Open. In August, she took charge as the Deputy Collector in Krishna District in the Chief Commissioner of Land Administration office under the Revenue Department of the Government of Andhra Pradesh. She set up a repeat clash of the previous year's final at the Hongkong Open, which she again lost to Tai Tzu-ying in straight games. Owing to her consistent performances, she qualified yet again for the Superseries Finals, and was also nominated for the BWF Female Player of the Year Award, which was eventually won by Chen Qingchen of China. In the group stage of the Dubai World Superseries Finals, she won all of her matches against He Bingjiao, Sayaka Sato and Akane Yamaguchi to progress to the semi-final. In the semi-final, she defeated China's Chen Yufei to reach the final. She finished as the runner-up after being narrowly beaten by Japan's Akane Yamaguchi 21β15, 12β21, 19β21 in an exciting 94-minute final.
2018
Sindhu faltered in the final again, this time at her home event, the India Open, where she had a match point in the third game but was unable to convert it and lost the match narrowly to Beiwen Zhang. At the All England Open Championships, she made it to the last four, before losing to world number 3 Akane Yamaguchi in the semi-final with a close 21β19, 19β21, 18β21 scoreline. This was her best performance at the All England Open. She competed at the 2018 Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast, winning a gold medal in the mixed team event and a silver medal in the singles event. Her jinx of losing in finals continued after she went down to Nozomi Okuhara in the final of the Thailand Open.Sindhu was seeded third in the 2018 BWF World Championships. She won her opening encounters against Fitriani and ninth seed Sung Ji-hyun, both in straight games. She then faced defending champion Nozomi Okuhara, whom she also defeated with a 21β17, 21β19 scoreline. In the semi-finals, she beat second-seeded Akane Yamaguchi in 2 games 21β16, 24β22. She won her second consecutive World Championship silver medal after losing to Carolina MarΓn in the final 19β21, 10β21. This was her fourth medal at the World Championships in total.
Sindhu was seeded third in the Asian Games β Women's singles|2018 Asian Games]. In the first round, she defeated Vietnamese VΕ© Thα» Trang in 3 games 21β10, 12β21, 23β21 in a very close encounter. She then faced Gregoria Mariska Tunjung and beat her with a 21β12, 21β15 scoreline. She then had to battle to get past Thai Nitchaon Jindapol in the quarter-finals in three games. In the semi-finals, she defeated second seed Akane Yamaguchi to enter the final round. Though she lost to top seed Tai Tzu-ying in the final, she won a historic first silver medal for India in badminton.
Sindhu qualified for the World Tour Finals">BWF World Tour">World Tour Finals at the end of the year. In the group stage, she defeated defending champion Akane Yamaguchi, top seed Tai Tzu-ying and USA's Beiwen Zhang to progress to the semi-finals. In the semi-finals, she defeated Thailand's Ratchanok Intanon to reach her second consecutive final at the tournament. In the final, she defeated her arch-rival Nozomi Okuhara 21β19, 21β17, becoming the only shuttler from India to claim the title at the year-end finale.
2019β20
Sindhu was bought by the defending champions Hyderabad Hunters in the 2018 PBL auctions and was named as their skipper. They lost in the semi-finals to Mumbai Rockets. Sindhu competed at the Indian National Championships where she reached the final, losing to three-time champion Saina Nehwal 18β21, 15β21. Just before the All England 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 2β3 weeks, 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 15β21, 16β21.At the 2019 World Championships, Sindhu was seeded fifth. She opened her campaign with comfortable straight-game victories over Pai Yu-po and ninth seed Beiwen Zhang in successive rounds. She impressed everyone with her victory over second seed Tai Tzu-ying in the quarter-finals. She defeated Tai, coming from a game down 12β21, 23β21, 21β19 to make the semi-final and secure a fifth World Championship medal, the joint-most in the history of women's singles badminton. In the semi-final, she defeated third seed Chen Yufei in straight games in dominating fashion, 21β7, 21β14, to enter her third consecutive World Championships final. In the final against Nozomi Okuhara, she put up a near-flawless display to win 21β7, 21β7. In the process, she became the first Indian to win gold at the World Championships.
Despite her ranking as 15th on the World Tour, Sindhu got a wild card entry into the 2019 BWF World Tour Finals because of her World Championship victory in August. She competed in the World Tour Finals in Guangzhou as the defending champion but failed to reach the knockout phase after losing to Chen Yufei and Akane Yamaguchi in successive rounds. She finished off as third in the group after defeating He Bingjiao 21β19, 21β19 in her last match. She was named the BBC Indian Sportswoman of Year on 8 March 2020. In April, she was elected as one of the ambassadors of the BWF Committee's campaign β "I am Badminton" to promote clean and fair play in the sport.
2021
Sindhu, reaching her first final in over 18 months at the 2021 Swiss Open, suffered a demoralising defeat against Carolina MarΓn, losing 12β21, 5β21. She was then stunned by Pornpawee Chochuwong of Thailand in the semi-final of the All England Open, losing out 17β21, 9β21. In May, she was elected as one of the two ambassadors from badminton in the International Olympic Committee's campaign βBelieve in Sportβ, aimed at preventing competition manipulation in the sport.Sindhu was seeded sixth at the Tokyo Olympic Games. She won both of her group matches against Israel's Ksenia Polikarpova and Hong Kong's Cheung Ngan Yi to progress towards the knockout stage. She defeated Denmark's Mia Blichfeldt comfortably in the round of 16 and reached the quarter-finals. She put up a dominating display to outmanoeuvre fourth seed Akane Yamaguchi of Japan 21β13, 22β20, placing herself in the last four stage, also becoming the only Indian shuttler to reach two consecutive Olympic semi-finals. Her opponent for the semi-final was second seed Tai Tzu-ying. Sindhu, who was yet to drop a game in the tournament, fell against Taiwan's Tai in two straight games 18β21, 12β21. She later beat eighth seed He Bingjiao of China in the playoff to clinch the bronze medal, thereby becoming the first Indian woman and only the fourth player in women's singles badminton to claim two medals at two consecutive Olympic games.
At the 2021 BWF World Championships, where she competed as the defending champion, Sindhu was seeded sixth. She eased past Slovakia's Martina RepiskΓ‘ in her opening encounter in straight games. She then defeated ninth seed Pornpawee Chochuwong 21β14, 21β18 in another straight-game encounter to make the quarter-finals. However, in the quarter-finals, she went down to top seed Tai Tzu-ying 17β21, 13β21, failing to medal at the World Championships for only the second time in her career.
Sindhu qualified for the 2021 BWF World Tour Finals at the end of the year. In the group stage, she beat Line Christophersen, Yvonne Li and lost to Pornpawee Chochuwong, qualifying for the semi-finals as second in her group. In the semi-final, she beat Akane Yamaguchi 21β15, 15β21, 21β19 in an exciting clash to make a third final at the year-end championships, only the second women's singles player to do so. In the final, she lost to South Korea's An Se-young to bag a second silver medal at the tournament.
2022β23
Sindhu won the Syed Modi International for the second time beating compatriot Malvika Bansod in the final. She then won the title at the 2022 Swiss Open, defeating Thailand's Busanan Ongbamrungphan in the final in two straight games. At the Asian Championships, where she was seeded fourth, Sindhu defeated fifth seed He Bingjiao of China in the quarter-finals, but lost a close and controversial semi-final to top seed Akane Yamaguchi, thus winning the bronze medal, her second medal at the tournament. She then won the Singapore Open title, beating Asian Champion Wang Zhiyi of China in the final.At the 2022 Commonwealth Games, Sindhu won her maiden Commonwealth Games gold medal in the women's singles, beating Michelle Li of Canada in the final. With this win, she became only the second women's singles player to win a full set of medals at the Commonwealth Games. She was also unbeaten in the mixed team event, where India won a silver medal. However, during the Games, she sustained a left foot stress fracture injury that kept her out of all remaining tournaments of the year, including the World Championships and the World Tour Finals.
Sindhu made a return from her injury layoff in the first tournament of 2023, the Malaysia Open. In February, she was part of the Indian team that won a bronze medal at the Badminton Asia Mixed Team Championships, India's first-ever medal at the tournament. She reached her first final of the season at the 2023 Spain Masters, where she lost to Gregoria Mariska Tunjung in straight games. She endured an up-and-down season, with four semi-finals but also seven first-round exits. Her season was once again cut short, this time at the French Open in October, where she pulled out of her second round match with a knee injury.
2024β25
Sindhu returned from her injury layoff at the Badminton Asia Team Championships in February, where she led the Indian women's team to the gold medal, India's first-ever medal in the event. Her first individual final of the season came at the 2024 Malaysia Masters, where she lost to reigning Asian Champion Wang Zhiyi in three games. On 8 July 2024, the Indian Olympic Committee designated her and the professional table tennis player Sharath Kamal as the flag bearers to the ParΓs 2024 Olympic Games. In the 2024 Olympics in Paris, Sindhu won both her games in group M but lost in the round of 16 to He Bingjiao of China, the same player she had beaten in the 2020 Games bronze medal match. At the end of the year, Sindhu won the 2024 Syed Modi International title beating Wu Luoyu of China in the final. This was her third title at the Syed Modi International, making her the joint-most successful player in the history of the tournament.In 2025, Sindhu was elected in the BWF Athletes' Commission for the third time. She endured an up-and-down season, with some of her standout results being a win over second seed Wang Zhiyi at the World Championships, and a win over World No. 6 Pornpawee Chochuwong at the China Masters. However, she ended her season after the China Masters owing to a foot injury.
Endorsements
An Economic Times report published in March 2017 noted that she is second only to Indian cricket captain Virat Kohli when it comes to earnings from each day of brand endorsements. Sindhu charges brands anywhere between and for a single day of endorsement related activities.She 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 Sindhu had signed a four-year sports sponsorship deal for with Chinese sports brand Li Ning. Her deal is one of the biggest in world badminton. She would reportedly get as sponsorship while the rest of the money would be for equipment. This was Li-Ning's second stint with Sindhu, who was with them for two years in 2014β2015 for a sum of a year. In 2016, she was back with Yonex for a per year contract for a period of three years.
In May 2024, she stepped in as an investor and brand ambassador for wellness brand Hoop.
Awards and recognition
National
- Arjuna Award
- Padma Shri, the fourth-highest civilian award of India
- Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna, the highest sporting honour of India
- Padma Bhushan, the third-highest civilian award of India
Others
- CNN-IBN Indian of the Year (Sports) 2013
- FICCI Breakthrough Sportsperson of the Year 2014
- NDTV Indian of the Year (Sports) 2014
- BWF Most Improved Player of the Year 2016
- Indian Sports Honours Sportswoman of the Year 2017
- Forbes 30 Under 30: Entertainment & Sports 2018
- TV9 Nava Nakshatra Sanmanam 2019
- Times of India Sports Awards Sportsperson of the Year 2019
- BBC Indian Sportswoman of the Year 2020
- Champions of Change (Telangana) 2021
- NDTV True Legend: Future of Young India 2022
- Forbes India W-Power 2025
- , and a land grant from the Government of Telangana.
- , a Group A cadre job and 1000 yd2 land grant from the Government of Andhra Pradesh.
- from the Government of Delhi.
- from her employer, Bharat Petroleum Corporation, with promotion from assistant to deputy sports manager.
- from the Government of Haryana.
- from the Government of Madhya Pradesh.
- from the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports.
- from Badminton Association of India.
- from NRI businessman, Mukkattu Sebastian.
- from the Indian Olympic Association.
- from All India Football Federation.
- from actor Salman Khan, for qualifying as an Olympic participant.
- BMW car from the Hyderabad District Badminton Association and Indian cricketer Sachin Tendulkar.
- Mahindra Thar from Mahindra Group chairman Anand Mahindra.
- Two-acre land from actor Vijayachander.
- Diamond necklace worth from NAC Jewellers.
- Miniature gold and diamond badminton racquet memento from Kirtilals.
- from the Badminton Association of India.
- from the Government of India.
- from the Government of Kerala.
- Land grant from the Government of Andhra Pradesh.
- BMW car from actor Nagarjuna Akkineni and businessman V. Chamundeswaranath.
- from the Government of Uttar Pradesh.
- from BYJU'S.
- from the Government of Telangana.
- from the Government of India.
- from the Government of Andhra Pradesh.
- from the Board of Control for Cricket in India
- from the Indian Olympic Association.
- from the JSW Group.
Achievements
Olympic Games
Women's singles| Year | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result | Ref | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2016 | Riocentro β Pavilion 4, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil | ![]() World ChampionshipsWomen's singles
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