Injured PV Sindhu granted protected ranking, will safeguard her from losing points
The Hindu
PV Sindhu granted protected ranking by BWF due to knee injury. Ranking locks her at world no. 10 till she recovers. Ranking prevents her from losing points while away from BWF Tour, esp. with Paris 2024 Olympics.
Indian Olympic medalist shuttler PV Sindhu has been given a protected ranking by the Badminton World Federation (BWF) following a knee injury sustained at the French Open in October, locking in her at the world number 10 spot till she recovers from her injury.
As per Olympics.com, this protected rankings can be requested for by players when injuries or some other circumstances make it impossible for them play at any competition for at least three months and a maximum of 12 months.
Once the permission is granted, the protected rankings come into effect. After 12 months, they will no longer be in force. Sindhu's absence could be till February next year. She could come back to the sport earlier in case of her gaining full fitness.
This protected ranking will prevent her from losing points while she is away from the BWF Tour, especially with the Paris 2024 Olympics around the corner. The Olympic qualification period started on May 2023 and will go on till April next year.
Sindhu faced an injury during the French Open during her second-round match against Thailand's Supanida Katethong. Sindhu was in lead, but injured her leg while playing a return shot.
This injury proved to be a huge blow for Sindhu, who was gradually regaining her form after battling inconsistent returns for the better part of this year. She had made her way into the top ten with successive semifinal appearances at Arctic Open and Denmark Open.
In the French Open, she scripted a spirited fightback in the first round to defeat Indonesia's world No. 7 Gregoria Mariska Tunjung.
He has worn India’s blues, albeit in an Under-19 World Cup, with K.L. Rahul, Mayank Agarwal, Harshal Patel and Jaydev Unadkat as his teammates. He has proudly adorned the Lion’s Crest — the famed Mumbai cricket logo — in all three formats. He has played with Yuvraj Singh, against Virat Kohli and Rahul Dravid and has the likes of Rahul and Joe Root in his illustrious list of dismissals. He is also a software developer for an IT giant, based in California. Virtually every middle-class Indian over the last three decades at some stage dreams of being either a cricketer or an IT professional. Saurabh Netravalkar has been combining two dreams, even after relocating to USA to pursue academics at the prestigious Cornell University in 2015.
Unlike most of the Olympic-bound athletes, who opt to train abroad before the big event, boxer Amit Panghal prefers training in home conditions prior to Paris 2024. A former World championships silver medallist and a World No. 1, Panghal won the 51kg quota place in the only chance he got. He wants to follow his own plans to script success in Paris.