Pusarla V Sindhu has once again made the Forbes list of the world’s highest-paid women athletes.

The Indian world No.11, despite having a below-par year by her standards, continued to be the most marketable woman athlete in badminton. With earnings of US$7.1 million, Pusarla is ranked 16^th along with gymnastics legend Simone Biles.

The Forbes list is led by Polish tennis star Iga Swiatek, who earned around US$23.9 million in 2023. Apart from tennis, which dominates the top 20 with 11 athletes, golf and soccer have two athletes each, while badminton, basketball, gymnastics and freestyle diving have a sole representative.

The Indian has frequently been among the top female earners in sports, as ranked by Forbes. In 2018 she broke into the top 10 with US$ 8.5 million, and was placed seventh overall.

Last year Pusarla’s US$ 7.1 million earnings placed her 12^th in the list, which was led by Japanese tennis star Naomi Osaka.

Pusarla has had a challenging year, with her season beginning with three opening-round exits on the HSBC BWF World Tour. In March she fell out of the top 10, and by July she had slipped to world No.17, her lowest ranking in a decade. Her first notable result of the season was a runner-up place at the Madrid Spain Masters, where she beat Mia Blichfeldt and Yeo Jia Min before falling to Gregoria Mariska Tunjung in the final.

After a prolonged lean spell which she attributed to injury, Pusarla finally turned it around at the Arctic Open by making the semifinals, a feat she repeated the following week at the VICTOR Denmark Open. These performances have lifted her ranking, and she’s currently on the verge of breaking back into the top 10.

Click here for the Forbes list