V. Sindhu Pusarla

2009–11

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 quarterfinals 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 16–21, 17–21. 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 21–15, 18–21, 21–23. 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 18–21, 21–17, 22–20, becoming India's first-ever Asian Junior Champion. In the Li Ning China Masters Superseries tournament, she stunned London 2012 Olympics gold medalist Li Xuerui, beating her 21–19, 9–21, 21–16 and entered the semi-finals. However, she lost in the semi-finals to fourth seeded Jiang Yanjiao of China 10–21, 21–14, 19–21.

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 15–21, 21–15, 15–21. 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 quarterfinal, 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 21–17, 17–21, 21–19. This was her first Grand Prix Gold title. She participated in the 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 21–19, 19–21, 21–17 and reached the third round. She then downed the defending champion, second-seeded Wang Yihan of China, 21–18, 23–21 to enter the quarterfinals. She set up a meeting with another higher-seeded Chinese player, Wang Shixian, and beat her 21–18, 21–17 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 21–15, 21–12 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 quarterfinal. 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 19–21, 22–20, 25–23. 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 quarterfinals in three games 19–21, 21–19, 21–15, in a match lasting more than an hour. However, in the semi-finals, she lost to the eventual champion Carolina Marín 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 quarterfinals of the Asian Championships, but ended up losing 21–11, 19–21, 8–21, narrowly missing out on a second consecutive Asian Championships medal. At the 2015 World Championships, where she was seeded eleventh, Sindhu defeated Line Højmark Kjærsfeldt 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 quarterfinals of the World Championships once again. However, this time, she suffered defeat against her Korean opponent Sung Ji-hyun in a close quarterfinal match 21–17, 19–21, 16–21, 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 – Tai Tzu-ying, Wang Yihan and Carolina Marín. In the final, she lost to the defending champion Li Xuerui in straight games 19–21, 12–21. 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 21–9, 21–23, 21–14.

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 Sárosi (2–0) and Canada's Michelle Li (2–1). She then ousted Taiwanese eighth seed Tai Tzu-ying (2–0) in the Round of 16 to meet the second seeded Wang Yihan from China in the quarterfinals, 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 Marín. 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 Thaihot China Open beating China's Sun Yu 21–11, 17–21, 21–11. 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 Hongkong 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 (2–1), lost to Sun Yu (0–2) and beat Carolina Marín (2–0) 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 15–21, 21–18, 15–21. 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 Gregoria Mariska Tunjung of Indonesia in the final. In the India Open Superseries, she won the title by defeating Carolina Marín 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 19–21, 23–21, 21–17. She thereafter eased past Sun Yu in the quarterfinal and another Chinese Chen Yufei in the semi-final, both in straight games. She had to settle for silver after losing to Nozomi Okuhara in the final 19–21, 22–20, 20–22, 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 22–20, 11–21, 21–18, 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 (CCLA) 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 (2–1), Sayaka Sato (2–0) and Akane Yamaguchi (2–0) to progress to the semi-final. In the semi-final, she defeated China's Chen Yufei (2–0) to reach the final. She finished as the runner-up after being narrowly beaten by Japan's Akane Yamaguchi 21–15, 12–21, 19–21 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 21–19, 19–21, 18–21 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 21–17, 21–19 scoreline. In the semi-finals, she beat second-seeded Akane Yamaguchi in 2 games 21–16, 24–22. She won her second consecutive World Championship silver medal after losing to Carolina Marín in the final 19–21, 10–21. This was her fourth medal at the World Championships in total.

Sindhu was seeded third in the 2018 Asian Games. In the first round, she defeated Vietnamese Vu Thi Trang in 3 games 21–10, 12–21, 23–21 in a very close encounter. She then faced Gregoria Mariska Tunjung and beat her with a 21–12, 21–15 scoreline. She then had to battle to get past Thai Nitchaon Jindapol in the quarterfinal in three games. In the semifinal, 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 2018 BWF World Tour Finals at the end of the year. In the group stage, she defeated defending champion Akane Yamaguchi (2–0), top seed Tai Tzu-ying (2–1) and USA's Beiwen Zhang (2–0) to progress to the semi-finals. In the semi-final, she defeated Thailand's Ratchanok Intanon (2–0) to reach her second consecutive final at the tournament. In the final, she defeated her arch-rival Nozomi Okuhara 21–19, 21–17, becoming the only shuttler from India to claim the title at the year-end finale.

2019–20

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 Badminton Championships where she reached the final, losing to three-time champion Saina Nehwal 18–21, 15–21. Just before the All England Badminton Championships, she had ended her deal with Yonex and signed a mega-deal with Li-Ning for 4 years worth nearly ₹50 crore (US$6.3 million). This led to her having a new racket and equipment to which she had to get used to within 2–3 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 15–21, 16–21.

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 quarterfinals. She defeated Tai, coming from a game down 12–21, 23–21, 21–19 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, 21–7, 21–14, to enter her third consecutive World Championships final. In the final against Nozomi Okuhara, she put up a near-flawless display to win 21–7, 21–7. 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 (1–2) and Akane Yamaguchi (1–2) in successive rounds. She finished off as third in the group after defeating He Bingjiao 21–19, 21–19 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 – "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 Marín, losing 12–21, 5–21. She was then stunned by Pornpawee Chochuwong of Thailand in the semi-final of the All England Open, losing out 17–21, 9–21. In May, she was elected as one of the two ambassadors from badminton in the International Olympic Committee's campaign ‘Believe in Sport’, 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 quarterfinals. She put up a dominating display to outmanoeuvre fourth seed Akane Yamaguchi of Japan 21–13, 22–20, 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 18–21, 12–21. 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 Repiská in her opening encounter in straight games. She then defeated ninth seed Pornpawee Chochuwong 21–14, 21–18 in another straight-game encounter to make the quarterfinals. However, in the quarterfinals, she went down to top seed Tai Tzu-ying 17–21, 13–21, 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 (2–0), Yvonne Li (2–0) and lost to Pornpawee Chochuwong (1–2), qualifying for the semi-finals as second in her group. In the semi-final, she beat Akane Yamaguchi 21–15, 15–21, 21–19 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.

2022–23

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 2022 Badminton Asia Championships, where she was seeded fourth, Sindhu defeated fifth seed He Bingjiao of China in the quarterfinals, 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 semifinals 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.