PETALING JAYA: Beauty, brains and brawn... and lots of money – shuttler P.V. Sindhu has it all.
One of India’s most successful players, Sindhu has been included in the Forbes list for the highest-paid female athletes of 2021. Sindhu, who also made the list in 2018 and 2019, is the only badminton player among the world’s top-earning sportswomen.
In the latest list, Sindhu is ranked No. 7, with total earnings of US$7.2mil (RM30mil). Japanese tennis star Naomi Osaka is the top earner with US$57.3mil (RM239.4mil).
A modest Sindhu said her inclusion in the list continues to show that badminton is a rewarding career option.
“I’m happy about that. Featuring me is a feel-good thing. Placing me with the top female athletes is definitely a good sign for me, it will give me a lot of confidence,” said the 26-year-old Sindhu as stated in the Badmin-ton World Federation website.
“Not only now, but especially after 2016, after Saina (Nehwal) and me, a lot of kids have been doing well (financially).”
Her senior Saina gave Indian women’s badminton a huge boost when she became the first to win an Olympic Games medal – a bronze at London 2012 and won a silver at the 2015 World Championships and became the world No. 1 in 2015 but what Sindhu did after that was even more staggering.
She became the country’s first world champion in 2019 after winning medals regularly in the world meet and smashed her way to a silver medal at the 2016 Rio Olympic Games and continued to keep the Indian flag flying with her consistent performances on the world stage.
“I’ve seen new players coming up, boys and girls, and parents are happy.
“A lot of parents tell me they want to enrol their kids in badminton, so definitely it’s a good game if you work hard and do well for yourself.
“You will get a lot of success.”
