She may be out of action due to injury but the limelight rarely ever abandons PV Sindhu. The two-time Olympic medallist struck the headlines once again, this time for her moolah as Sindhu was named the world’s 12th highest-paid female athlete in 2022 by Forbes on Thursday.
The 27-year-old is the only shuttler and Indian in the list of top 25 female athletes released by the American business magazine. With a total earning of $7.1 million (Rs.59 crore approximately) she is far ahead of her peers like Olympic gold medallist Chen Yufei of China, reigning world champion Akane Yamaguchi of Japan or three-time world champion Carolina Marin of Spain.
The only Indian badminton world champion who won in 2019, Sindhu is also ahead of the likes of 2021 US Open finalist Leylah Fernandez of Canada, 2022 Wimbledon and US Open runner-up Ons Jabeur of Tunisia, United States football star Megan Rapinoe among others.
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Interestingly, $7 million of Sindhu’s earnings came off the field while only $100,000 was pocketed through on-field earnings.
The list is led by Japanese tennis sensation and four-time Major winner Naomi Osaka for the third year in a row, who accumulated a total wealth of $51.1 million, with 23-time Grand Slam champion Serena Williams, who bid farewell to the sport earlier this year, coming in second at $41.3 million. China’s 19-year-old freestyle skier Eileen Gu is third on the list with $20.1 million.
Seven of the top 10 are tennis players while the other three are Gu, American gymnast Simone Biles and Australian golfer Minjee Lee. It is also the first time eight women have earned $10 million each, double the number from a year ago and the maiden time more than seven have crossed the barrier since Forbes introduced the ranking in 2008. Overall, the 25 earned a total of $285 million before taxes and agent fees with the top 10 accounting for $194 million.
Sindhu was having a tremendous 2022 before a stress fracture on her ankle made her pull out of all tournaments, including the World Championships, in early August. The world No 6 started the year by winning the Syed Modi India International in Lucknow in January – her first title in 29 months – following it up with the Swiss Open crown in Basel in March.
She won her third title of the year with the Singapore Open in July before clinching a historic gold medal at the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, completing her set of her medals at the quadrennial games. She also claimed a second bronze medal at the Badminton Asia Championships in Manila in April-May. Despite not playing for almost five months of the year, Sindhu never dropped out of the top 8 in world rankings.
