BWF Rankings: PV Sindhu climbs back to career-best spot, male shuttlers see slight fall

Following her superb run at last week’s Korea Open Super Series, PV Sindhu climbed back to her career-best ranking of World No. 2 in the new BWF World Rankings are released today on Thursday. Previously, the Rio Olympics silver-medallist had achieved a career-best No. 2 ranking following her win at the India Open Super Series back in April.

Sindhu gained 4160 points to jump from 4th to 2nd in the latest rankings by dint of her magnificent 22-20, 11-21, 21-18 victory over Japanese world champion Nozomi Okuhara at the Korea Open final. She thus leapfrogged South Korea’s Sung Ji Hyun, who crashed out in the quarters of the Korea Open, and Japan’s Akane Yamaguchi, who was ousted by Okuhara in the semi-final last week.

Sindhu has been in a terrific run of form of late. Earlier this month, the 22-year-old shuttler had stormed into the final of the BWF World Championship. However, she had to remain content with the silver medal as Okuhara got the better of her. Sindhu, though, did have her revenge last week.

Sindhu will face Okuhara yet again, later today, in the second round of the ongoing Japan Open Super Series. If she goes on to win the title, it will be her third Super Series title of the year.

She is still a fair way away from top spot, with Chinese Taipei's Tai Tzu Ying sitting in first place 94,409 and Sindhu with a total of 81,106. However, with Ying having withdrawn from the Japan Open in the first round, the Indian has a strong chance of bridging the gap if she can manage another strong run in Tokyo.

Meanwhile, Saina Nehwal held on to her World No. 12 spot. The Olympic bronze medallist had decided to give the Korea Open a miss after crashing out of the semi-finals of the World Champions this month.

In the men’s category, Kidambi Srikanth has held on to his World No. 8 rank. The ace Indian shuttler had crashed out in the quarters at the World Championships. On the other hand, B Sai Praneeth, HS Prannoy and Ajay Jayaram all fell down in the rankings. While Sai Praneeth and Prannoy dropped to 17th and 19th respectively, Jayaram dropped three places to 20.

Sameer Verma, who made it to the quarters of the Korean Open last week, jumped four spots to 21st in the latest rankings while Sourabh Verma dropped two places to 35th.

Sai Praneeth may drop further after losing in the first round of the Japan Open. Srikanth, Prannoy and Verma, though, all made it to the second round of the tournament and will play their matches later today.