PV Sindhu rose two places to world No. 6 in the latest BWF rankings, her highest since December 2022, and has qualified for the World Tour Finals in Hangzhou after winning the HYLO Open and reaching the French Open final. She is India’s only qualifier.
The Hylo Open title in Saarbrücken turned a strong autumn into a ranking jump. The BWF’s Tuesday update moved Sindhu to No. 6 on 74,421 points, and the same results have put her into the season-ending World Tour Finals in Hangzhou, which run from 9 to 13 December.
The run behind the rise
Sindhu beat Denmark’s Line Kjaersfeldt 21-12, 21-14 in 39 minutes to win the Hylo Open, becoming the first Indian women’s singles champion at the event. Lakshya Sen also won the men’s title, as covered in India’s Super 500 double at the HYLO Open, and rose one place to No. 13. The week before, she had reached the French Open final, where she won the first game against world No. 1 An Se-young before losing 16-21, 21-11, 21-12. She also won the Japan Open in July.
The ranking is her best since December 2022, months after her Commonwealth Games title in Birmingham. Her career high is world No. 2, reached in 2017. Sindhu said she was happy to be back in the top six for the first time since 2022, and added: “I believe there is a lot more room for improvement.”
A return to the season finale
Sindhu, 31, is the only Indian to have qualified for the Finals so far. Only the top eight in the World Tour race qualify, with a limit of two players per country. She won the Finals in 2018 by beating Nozomi Okuhara and lost the 2021 final to An Se-young. She qualified in 2022 as well but withdrew with an injury and has not played in the event since.
An Se-young, Akane Yamaguchi, Wang Zhi Yi and Chen Yu Fei have also secured places, leaving three spots open.
