How did Indian shuttlers perform in BWF World Tour Finals 2023 qualification cycle?

For the first time since 2010 none of the Indians to qualified for the year-end finale.

The BWF World Tour 2023 ended with the conclusion of the China Masters. The top 8 players/pairs from each discipline have qualified for the BWF World Tour Finals 2023, which is scheduled to be held in Hangzhou, China from 13 to 17 December, 2023.

The season started with the Malaysia Open (Super 1000) and concluded with the China Masters (Super 750). The World Tour has been divided into five levels: Super 1000, Super 750, Super 500, Super 300, and Super 100.

China has been the most successful country, having won 49 titles in total, followed by Japan with 26 titles and Korea with 24 titles. 26 different players in men’s singles have won at least won one title. The men’s doubles saw a record 39 players winning at least one title, while women’s and mixed doubles had 31 and 33 different players winning at least one title respectively.

In this article let us look at the performance of top Indian shuttlers this season:

HS Prannoy

Indian no.1 men’s singles shuttler, HS Prannoy, finished the season in the 12th spot in the BWF World Tour Rankings by garnering 71,020 points in 13 tournaments. He won his first World Tour title this year at Malaysia Masters defeating Weng Hong Yang (21-19,13-21,21-18) in three games. He also finished runners-up at the Australian Open losing to Weng Hong Yang (9-21,23-21,22-20). Apart from these, he has four quarter-final finishes and a semi-final finish.

Prannoy was in a comfortable position to qualify for the World Tour Finals but an injury ruled him out from the European leg – post Asian Games – and as a result lost crucial points.

Lakshya Sen

The former junior championships silver medalist, Lakshya Sen, has been struggling with fitness issues in the second half of the season. He finished the 2023 season in the 18th spot by securing 64,760 points in 19 tournaments. Lakshya won the Canada Open by defeating rival Li Shifeng (21-18, 22-20) – which was his only title triumph this season.

Apart from this, he had three semi-final finishes and a quarterfinal. Furthermore, Lakshya had ten first-round exits in as many tournaments played.

PV Sindhu

Two-time Olympic medallist, PV Sindhu, has been struggling with form for quite some time now. However, she made a good comeback post the Asian Games but an injury at the French Open has kept her out of reckoning till February next year. She finished 15th this season in the BWF World Tour by accumulating 64,990 points in 17 tournaments.

Furthermore, PV Sindhu failed to win any tournament this year. Her best finish came at the Spain Masters finishing runners-up. The difference between the last qualifier and the Indian was mere 6000 points and had she stayed fit she could have progressed for the year-ending tournament.

Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty

The golden duo, Satwiksairaj Rankireddy-Chirag Shetty finished 10th in the World Tour 2023 rankings with a total of 78,590 points in 14 tournaments. This year saw them win three World Tour titles alongside the Asian Championships and Asian Games triumph.

Satwik-Chirag started the season with a semi-final finish at the Malaysia Open. However, the former got injured in the early stages of the season which saw the pair rest for a month. Post the comeback, the duo won Swiss Open by defeating Ren-Tan of China (21-19,24-22).

Fondly called ‘The Brothers of Destruction’ became the first Indian doubles pair to win a Super 1000 tournament – Indonesia Open – defeating their nemesis Aaron Chia/Soh Wooi Yik (21-17, 21-18). They summed up the season by finishing second at the China Masters losing to the home favorites Liang-Wang in three games.

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