New Delhi: London Olympics bronze medallist Saina Nehwal has the second highest earnings in women’s singles in the first quarter of the new season.
The 28-year-old from Hyderabad, a winner of the Indonesia Masters, semifinalist at Malaysia Masters and quarterfinalist at All England Championship, saw USD 36,825 added to her career earnings.
Reigning All England Champion Chen Yufei (USD 86,325) of China holds the top position in the highest earnings list in women’s singles, while Chinese Taipei’s world no 1 Tai Tzu Ying is in third place with an earning of USD 36,100.
Olympic silver medallist P V Sindhu, who crashed out in the opening round of the USD 1,000,000 All England Championship, will hope to improve her standing with a title win at the ongoing USD 350,000 India Open and grab a prize money of USD 24,500. In men’s singles, Kento Momota, who cliched the German Open and the All England while finished runner-up at the Indonesia Masters, tops the list after adding USD 94,550 to his career earnings.
The next highest singles earner is Denmark’s Viktor Axelsen with USD 44,150. Saina is placed fourth the HSBC Race to Guangzhou Rankings, while Axelsen leads the HSBC Race to Guangzhou Rankings, just ahead of Momota. The top eight players and pairs at the end of the season will qualify for the HSBC BWF World Tour Finals in December.