For P. V. Sindhu, the year 2017 proved by far the best in her career. The 22-year-old built on the gains following her return with a silver medal from the 2016 Rio Olympics. She added the World Championship silver medal, to go with two previous bronze medals from the premier event and rose to a career-high ranking during the year.
Sindhu started the year as sixth in world rankings, climbed to a career-best second in November and ended the year as third. She played 52 matches, won 40 and lost 12.
Sindhu won three titles, including two in India — the Syed Modi Grand Prix and India Open — apart from the Korea Open. She finished runner-up in the World Championship and the Hong Kong Open. Against World No. 1 Tai Tzu Ying (Chinese Taipei), Sindhu lost all three times this year, taking her sequence of defeats to four. In head-to-head clashes, Tai Tzu Ying leads Sindhu 8-3.
But Sindhu leads World No. 2 Akane Yamaguchi 5-3. This year, in four meetings, Sindhu lost in the French Open but avenged the defeat in Hong Kong. In the season-ending BWF World Super Series Finals, Sindhu beat Yamaguchi in the league, but lost in the final. Against World No. 7, World champion Nozomi Okuhara of Japan and World No. 8 Chen Yufei, the highest-ranked Chinese, Sindhu shared a 2-2 head-to-head record this year.
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