India Open badminton: Sindhu, Ratchanok, Marin, Tai Tzu-Ying, Okuhara – how shuttle’s golden generation bonds together | Badminton News
Scroll down to December 2018 on PV Sindhu’s Instagram page, and one will find a post with the caption: ‘Wang Yihan, long time no see, finally I get to see her!’, with a generous dose of emojis. Also tagged in that post is Ratchanok ‘May’ Intanon, and one of the hashtags read: ‘Friends for life!’ In a BWF Unlimited video posted in 2023, shuttlers from around the world are asked who their best friend on the tour is, and Intanon’s response is PV Sindhu.
Born exactly five months apart in 1995, the two 29-year-olds made headlines on the senior badminton circuit as teenagers in 2013. Intanon made hory for Thailand becoming World Champion at 18, whereas Sindhu won the first of her five Worlds medals when she clinched bronze. And at the start of 2025, the journey continues.
“Actually, I had made plans to come visit Sindhu at her wedding,” Intanon told The Indian Express on Thursday at the India Open. “Finally, it proved difficult for me to journey here for one or two days. I had already booked my flight too, but I didn’t have anyone to accompany me. I told her ‘congrats’. In our badminton careers, we have always supported each other. Sometimes, we exchange direct messages like ‘we have to fight, we have to keep going,’ and we are still competing.”
At the start of this season, when Intanon made a bright beginning in Malaysia to reach the semifinals, Sindhu sent a social media message to her: ‘Let’s go, May!’ Intanon responded. ‘We have to earn more and more, haha! Thank you for lening and sharing this life with me, it’s a really hard life.’
Friends and rivals
Indeed, in this era of women’s singles, the off-court friendship between Sindhu and Intanon has been the norm and not the exception.
At the India Open, Intanon and Nozomi Okuhara faced off in the opening round and reminisced afterwards about this golden generation fondly. Then there is Sindhu and Carolina Marin, who have had some spicy battles over the years but have often spoken about their special bond since that memorable day at the 2016 Olympics when Sindhu’s embrace with the tearful champion made for iconic images.
When Marin suffered yet another nasty injury in Paris when on the brink of reaching another final, Sindhu wrote a post to one of her ‘greatest rivals and dearest friends’.
‘Deep down, I believe there was no player on tour I hated playing against more than you. Your sheer determination and uncanny ability to put players under pressure are unmatched. Knowing you and your willpower, it’s only a matter of time, buddy! Just know I will always be your biggest supporter.’
Marin responded with a thank you note, asking Sindhu to take a break herself and recover well.
In Tokyo, after beating Sindhu in the semifinal, Tai Tzu-Ying fell one step short of her ultimate dream of winning the Olympic gold. Later, she shared a story.
“Sindhu ran over to hug me, held my face, and told me: ‘I know you are uncomfortable, but you have played very well. Today is not your game.’ That kind of sincere encouragement made me cry directly. Then she held me in her arms and said that she knew all about this feeling.”
Sindhu, of course, had lost to Marin in Rio.
Such examples have been aplenty over the last decade among this group of outrageously talented shuttlers, who each had their unique signature. And as their careers wind down, the world won’t just miss them for their badminton, but also for how they made the game beautiful away from the court.
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