The top Indian shuttlers saw a few changes in the latest world rankings released by the Badminton World Federation (BWF) on Thursday, November 23, 2017. Saina Nehwal has risen one place to 10th, making this the first time in six months that she is ranked inside the top 10. The former World No. 1 was last a part of the elite group in the 25th May rankings.
By making it to the second round of the China Open last week, the former champion bettered her 2016 result and added 4320 points that took her total tally to 56160. It enabled her to climb back inside the top 10.
Saina also benefitted from Sun Yu’s fall. The Chinese was the runner-up at her home Superseries tournament in 2016 but did not play this time due to an injury. It resulted in her plummeting four places to 11th in the world rankings.
World Championships silver medallist PV Sindhu slid down the ladder to third after failing to defend her China Open crown this year. The 22-year-old crashed out in the quarter-finals, losing to the unheralded qualifier Gao Fangjie, 11-21, 10-21. It was later learnt that she had not been well on the day of her quarter-final match.
Sindhu’s fall also came as a result of Akane Yamaguchi moving up following her win in Fuzhou. The title triumph hauled the Japanese up by two spots to second, pushing the Indian down.
Also read: Uphill task for Saina Nehwal for Dubai World Superseries Finals qualification
Srikanth slips, Prannoy stays put
Srikanth Kidambi, who has opted for rest since the Senior National Championships, too has dropped one spot to third. The Guntur ace, who has won four Superseries tournaments in 2017, will next be seen in action at the Dubai World Superseries Finals in December.
HS Prannoy, who is in the race for a much-coveted Dubai berth, maintains his 10th ranking. Singapore Open Superseries winner B Sai Praneeth is 17th, Sameer Verma is 20th and Parupalli Kashyap is 47th.
Sourabh Verma, who has returned to the Tour after an ankle injury, jumped 10 spots to 48th. Ajay Jayaram has wrapped up his season in order to fully recover from a hamstring injury. That has affected his ranking and he has slipped eight spots to 31st.
In men’s doubles, Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty climbed one place to 27th. National champions Manu Attri and B Sumeeth Reddy too rose a place to 32nd. Arjun MR and Shlok Ramchandran stay put at 37th.
The women’s doubles pair of Ashwini Ponnappa and N Sikki Reddy dropped a solitary rung to 25th. Pranaav Jerry Chopra and Sikki Reddy surged a spot to 16th in the mixed doubles section.
Also read: How HS Prannoy can qualify for the 2017 Dubai World Superseries Finals