PV Sindhu and her coach confirm her withdrawal from BWF World Tour Finals

Badminton superstar PV Sindhu and her coach Park Tae-Sang have confirmed the shuttler's withdrawal from the season-ending BWF World Tour Finals.

The Korean made an Instagram post on Monday announcing her pullout from the tournament set to begin on December 14 in Guangzhou, China. Sindhu shared Tae-Sang's post on her Instagram story.

"We decided to withdraw from the world tour. May she recover soon...," was what Tae-Sang captioned his post.

While sharing it on her account, PV Sindhu added the words:

"Yes and come back stronger"

For the uninitiated, PV Sindhu suffered a stress fracture to her left ankle on her way to winning the gold medal at the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham in August. It kept her out of action from all of the subsequent competitions.

The 27-year-old was expected to recover in time for the year-ending BWF Finals, which she won in 2018. However, it now appears that the former world champion needs yet more time to fully heal.

PV Ramana, PV Sindhu's father, was reported to have told PTI on Sunday that the shuttler has been advised more rest by her doctor. The World No. 5's camp has already informed the Badminton Association of India (BAI) about her decision to pull out of the year-ender.

"She has discussed the pros and cons, including the many restrictions in Guangzhou. Keeping the new season in mind, she has taken this decision," Ramana was quoted as saying to PTI.

"She will need to be at her best for next year, which will have the Asian Games and also the 2024 Paris Olympics qualification. Playing about 22 tournaments will be tough, so she is taking extra care," he added.

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PV Sindhu's withdrawal leaves HS Prannoy as the only Indian to play the 2022 BWF World Tour Finals

Due to the withdrawal of PV Sindhu, men's singles shuttler HS Prannoy will be the only player to represent India at the prestigious BWF World Tour Finals. Prannoy is currently placed in third position in the Race to Guangzhou Rankings.

The Kerala shuttler has had some strong performances throughout the season, with his best performance being a runner-up finish at the Super 300 Swiss Open. He also reached the semifinals of the Super 1000 Indonesia Open and the Super 500 Malaysia Masters.

Other than that, he made the quarterfinals of the BWF World Championships and six other events.

Lakshya Sen, Kidambi Srikanth and the men's doubles duo of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty missed the bus to Guangzhou.