BWF Rankings: Saina Nehwal slips out of top 10, Chirag-Satwik enter top 25

Reigning Commonwealth Games champion Parupalli Kashyap jumped eight spots to be placed at 44th in the new world rankings released by the Badminton World Federation (BWF) on Thursday, February 8, 2018. The 31-year-old, who had slipped out of the top 50 due to injuries and poor form, made the leap by dint of his quarter-final appearance at the India Open that concluded last Sunday.

HS Prannoy too had good news waiting for him in the latest rankings. He moved back to his highest ranking of 10th, despite a shock first-round loss at his home tournament that was brought about by a bad foot corn.

Kidambi Srikanth continues to be 5th while Sai Praneeth climbed up to 17th. Sameer Verma and Ajay Jayaram both dropped a place to be 42nd and 45th respectively. Sourabh Verma is 63rd with Subhankar Dey just one rung below him.

Saina at 11th, Ruthvika breaks back into top 65

Saina Nehwal’s return to the top 10 lasted only a week. The former World No. 1, who crashed out of the India Open in the quarter-finals, slid to the 11th spot in the latest world rankings.

There was no change for PV Sindhu, who is still the fourth-ranked player.

Tata Open champion Ruthvika Shivani Gadde made a huge leap of 16 places to be 63rd. The 20-year-old, whose best ranking has been 49th, reached the second round of the India Open.

Sri Krishna Priya Kudaravalli is 67th and former national champion Rituparna Das plunged eight spots to 70th. 15-year-old Vaishnavi Reddy Jakka is now at a career-high 78th and Saili Rane is 86th.

18-year-old Mugdha Agrey, who won a round at the India Open, climbed a whopping 25 places to make her top 100 debut at 100th.

Rankireddy and Shetty break into top 25

The ever-rising men’s doubles pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty has broken into the top 25 and is placed at 25th after emerging victorious in the first round of the India Open. The two made the headlines with their run to the semi-finals of the Indonesia Masters a week earlier.

At the India Open, they succumbed to a narrow 20-22 defeat in the decider in the second round.

Manu Attri and B Sumeeth Reddy made it to the quarter-finals of the same tournament and have been rewarded with a rise of four places to 30th.

In women’s doubles, Ashwini Ponnappa and N Sikki Reddy surged six spots to 25th. They are the only Indian pair in the top 50.

The India No. 1 mixed doubles duo of Pranaav Jerry Chopra and Sikki Reddy reached the semi-finals of the India Open last week and that has propelled them up the rankings by three spots. They are currently ranked 21st.

Besides them, national champions Ponnappa and Rankireddy soared 16 rungs to grab the 58th place in the latest world rankings.