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India’s ace shuttler PV Sindhu has pulled out of the year-end BWF World Tour Finals as she is yet to recover from a stress fracture on her left ankle. Notably, Sindhu sustained the blow during her gold medal-winning campaign at the Commonwealth Games 2022. The double Olympic medallist has been out of action since then. The BWF World Tour Finals will take place in Guangzhou, China from December 14.
"Her doctor has advised her to take some more time so that she recovers completely ahead of the new season. She has discussed about the pros and cons but with so much restrictions in Guangzhou and also keeping new season in mind, she has taken this decision," Sindhu's father PV Ramana was quoted saying by PTI.
"She has already started her training a couple of weeks back and by January she will be fully fit. So in view of all these reasons, she sent a mail to BAI informing about her decision. She will need to be at her best for next year which will have Asian Games and also the 2024 Paris Olympics qualification, playing about 22 tournaments will be tough, so she is taking extra care."
With Sindhu pulling out, India will have no representation in the Women’s Singles category. In fact, it leaves HS Prannoy as the only shuttler from India to compete in the singles category. Kidambi Srikanth has an outside chance of qualifying for the season-end tournament but only if he does well at the Australian Open which is slated to start on November 15.
Lakshya Sen had a chance to qualify for the tournament but he also had to take part in the Australian Open to stand a chance. However, as the 21-year-old has pulled out of the last tournament on the calendar due to a throat infection, he is well and truly out of BWF World Tour Finals.