PV Sindhu Quick Facts
| Full Name | Pusarla Venkata Sindhu |
| Profession | Badminton Player |
| Date of Birth | 5 July 1995 |
| Birthplace | Hyderabad, India |
| Height | 1.79 m |
| Event | Women’s singles |
| Playing Hand | Right-handed |
| Career-High Ranking | World No. 2 (April 2017) |
| World Ranking | No. 11 (BWF list of 22 September 2026) |
| Active Years | 2009 to present |
| Spouse | Venkata Datta Sai (married December 2024) |
| Nationality | Indian |
Why PV Sindhu Matters
Sindhu turned Indian women’s badminton from an occasional medal threat into a regular presence in finals. Her silver in Rio made her the first Indian woman to win an Olympic silver medal, and her bronze in Tokyo made her the first Indian woman to win two individual Olympic medals. Just as notable is her record at the World Championships, where she has won a medal of every colour and five in total, a consistency on the biggest stage that few singles players in the world can match. Her longevity matters too: more than a decade after her first world medal, she was still beating top-five opponents in 2026.
PV Sindhu Major Medals
| Year | Competition | Result |
|---|---|---|
| 2013 | World Championships, Guangzhou | Bronze |
| 2014 | World Championships, Copenhagen | Bronze |
| 2014 | Commonwealth Games, Glasgow | Bronze |
| 2016 | Olympic Games, Rio de Janeiro | Silver |
| 2017 | World Championships, Glasgow | Silver |
| 2018 | World Championships, Nanjing | Silver |
| 2018 | Commonwealth Games, Gold Coast | Silver (singles), Gold (mixed team) |
| 2018 | Asian Games, Jakarta | Silver |
| 2019 | World Championships, Basel | Gold |
| 2021 | Olympic Games, Tokyo 2020 | Bronze |
| 2022 | Commonwealth Games, Birmingham | Gold (singles), Silver (mixed team) |
Early Life and Family
Sindhu was born in Hyderabad on 5 July 1995 to P. V. Ramana and P. Vijaya, both former national-level volleyball players; her father is an Arjuna Award winner. She took up badminton at the age of eight and later joined the Pullela Gopichand Badminton Academy in Hyderabad, where Gopichand shaped her through her junior years and her first senior medals.
Breakthrough: A World Medal at 18
Sindhu’s arrival on the senior stage came in 2013, when she won bronze at the World Championships in Guangzhou, becoming the first Indian woman to win a singles medal at the event. She repeated the bronze in 2014 and three years later reached the Olympic final in Rio, where she lost a long contest to Spain’s Carolina Marin after beating higher-ranked opponents in the knockout rounds.
PV Sindhu Career Journey
After losing two straight world finals in 2017 and 2018, Sindhu won the 2018 BWF World Tour Finals and then took the 2019 world title in Basel, beating Nozomi Okuhara 21-7, 21-7 in the final. She added Olympic bronze in Tokyo and Commonwealth Games singles gold in Birmingham in 2022. Results slowed after that. She won the Syed Modi International in late 2024 and lost in the round of 16 at Paris 2024. In 2025 she reached the quarter-finals of the World Championships in Paris but a foot injury cut her season short in October.
PV Sindhu Records and Milestones
- First Indian woman to win two individual Olympic medals (2016 silver, 2020 bronze)
- First Indian to become badminton world champion (Basel 2019)
- Five World Championships singles medals: one gold, two silver, two bronze
- First Indian to win the BWF World Tour Finals (2018)
- First Indian to win the Japan Open (2026)
PV Sindhu Awards and Honours
| Year | Award |
|---|---|
| 2013 | Arjuna Award |
| 2015 | Padma Shri |
| 2016 | Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna (then Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna) |
| 2016 | BWF Most Improved Player of the Year |
| 2020 | Padma Bhushan |
Playing Style
Sindhu is an attacking player who uses her height and reach to take the shuttle early and hit steep smashes from the back of the court. At her best she pins opponents deep with long, fast clears and finishes at the net. Her challenge against quicker, more defensive rivals has always been the long rally, and in recent seasons she and her coaches have worked on patience and shot variety. Her straight-games wins over Chen Yufei and Akane Yamaguchi at the 2026 Japan Open showed that her power game still works when her movement is sharp.
Current Form (2025-26) and Outlook
Sindhu returned from her foot injury at the Malaysia Open in January 2026 and reached the semi-finals. Quarter-final runs at the Thailand and Singapore Opens lifted her back into the world top 10 in June for the first time in 31 months. On 19 July she won the Japan Open, a Super 750 event, beating Akane Yamaguchi 21-17, 21-17 for her first title since the 2024 Syed Modi International. At the home World Championships in New Delhi in August she lost in the round of 16 to China’s Wang Zhiyi. At the Asian Games in Aichi-Nagoya she reached the quarter-finals before losing to Chen Yufei on 27 September, and in October she went out to Ratchanok Intanon in the Arctic Open quarter-finals in Finland. Now 31, she has said she still wants to keep competing, and Los Angeles 2028 remains the obvious long-term target.
PV Sindhu Net Worth and Brand Value
Sindhu has not disclosed her wealth, so the figures below are published estimates, not official numbers. The most reliable reference point is Forbes, which has repeatedly included her among the world’s highest-paid female athletes and estimates her annual earnings, most of which come from endorsements rather than prize money.
| Estimated Net Worth | Not officially estimated. Media reports often quote about ₹59 crore (approx. US$7.1 million), but that figure is Forbes’ estimate of her annual earnings for 2024, not her net worth |
| Brand Value | Not ranked in Kroll’s 2025 Celebrity Brand Valuation top 25; Forbes estimated her 2024 earnings at US$7.1 million, about US$7 million of it from endorsements |
| Key Brand Endorsements | Bank of Baroda, Bridgestone, Stayfree, Hoop (investor and ambassador since 2024) |
| Main Income Sources | Brand endorsements, BWF prize money, state and central government cash awards, investments |
Personal Life
Sindhu married Venkata Datta Sai, a Hyderabad-based technology executive with Posidex Technologies, on 22 December 2024 in Udaipur, Rajasthan, followed by a reception in Hyderabad. She continues to live and train in Hyderabad.
Frequently Asked Questions About PV Sindhu
How many Olympic medals has PV Sindhu won?
Two: silver at Rio 2016 and bronze at Tokyo 2020, both in women’s singles.
Who is PV Sindhu’s husband?
She is married to Venkata Datta Sai, a Hyderabad-based technology executive. They married in Udaipur on 22 December 2024.
What titles has PV Sindhu won in 2026?
She won the Japan Open Super 750 in July 2026, beating Akane Yamaguchi in the final.
What is PV Sindhu’s net worth?
Her net worth has not been officially estimated. Forbes put her 2024 earnings at about US$7.1 million (roughly ₹59 crore), mostly from endorsements, and that figure is often reported as her net worth.
