BWF Rankings: India finish the year with four shuttlers in top 10 for the first time

Indian badminton capped off a stellar season with four Indians in the top 10 of the year-end rankings for the first time ever. In the latest world rankings released by the Badminton World Federation (BWF) on Thursday, December 28, 2017, PV Sindhu, Saina Nehwal, Srikanth Kidambi, and HS Prannoy maintain their respective spots in the top 10 to finish the year on a high.

While Sindhu and Srikanth are third, Nehwal and Prannoy are placed at 10th. B Sai Praneeth is the only other player to feature in the top 20 and he is at 16th.

Sameer Verma is 30th, Ajay Jayaram is 38th and Sourabh Verma is 49th, rounding off the top 50. Commonwealth Games champion Parupalli Kashyap and National Championships bronze medallist Subhankar Dey are 54th and 63rd respectively.

Beyond the top 80, there have been a few changes in the men’s singles rankings. Harsheel Dani, Lakshya Sen and Abhishek Yelegar all dropped a place each. Dani is 85th, Sen is 87th and Yelegar is 92nd.

In contrast, the women’s singles category does not have a single Indian in the top 50 after Sindhu and Saina. Former national champion Rituparna Das has slipped a couple of rungs to 54th. Sri Krishna Priya Kudaravalli is 58th, Tata Open champion Ruthvika Shivani Gadde is 81st.

The rankings clearly reflect India’s rising stature in world badminton. Indian shuttlers had an unprecedented haul of seven Superseries titles this year, apart from two medals at the World Championships in a year to remember.

Vaishnavi Reddy breaks into the top 100

Five Indians are packed in the 90-100 slot of women’s singles. Tanvi Lad is 90th, Sai Uttejitha Rao Chukka is 92nd, Vaishnavi Reddy Jakka is 93rd, Rasika Raje is 95th and Saili Rane is 99th.

For the fast-rising Jakka, this is her career-high ranking. Her run to the Turkey International Series semi-finals pushed her up by 10 spots and helped her break into the top 100 for the very first time.

The 15-year-old has been on a roll the last few weeks. She is the only Indian in the top 10 of the junior women’s singles world rankings currently. But it is her prowess in the senior circuit at such a tender age that has boosted her rankings.

She triumphed at the South Africa International at the beginning of this month and then maintained that form to win the Turkey Junior the very next week. It was at the Turkey International where her 13-match winning streak came to an end when she bowed out to Ozge Bayrak in the last-four stage.

In men’s doubles, Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty are 31st while Manu Attri and B Sumeeth Reddy are right after them at 32nd.

Ashwini Ponnappa and N Sikki Reddy are 28th in women’s doubles. Reddy and Pranaav Jerry Chopra hold on to their 18th spot in mixed doubles while the pair of Ponnappa and Rankireddy has risen one rung to 71st.