BWF Rankings: Sameer Verma rises four spots to 17th, Satwiksairaj Rankireddy-Chirag Shetty back in top 20

Indian shuttler Sameer Verma’s title win at the Hyderabad Open last week was rewarded with a rise of four spots to 17th in the latest world rankings released by the Badminton World Federation (BWF) on September 13, 2018. Verma was the top seed and he lived up to the expectations to lift his second trophy of the season.

Earlier in February, the 23-year-old had won the Swiss Open Super 300 title.

Verma was not the only one to benefit from success at the Hyderabad Open Super 100 tournament. The men’s doubles pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty too had a rise in the world rankings following their triumph, which was also their first international title in 18 months.

The title win hauled them up by three rungs to 18th in the latest world rankings.

The mixed doubles pair of Pranaav Jerry Chopra and N Sikki Reddy could not manage to win the final, despite having multiple match points. It still triggered a rise of three places for them, pulling them up to 21.

2014 Commonwealth Games bronze medallist RMV Gurusaidutt’s good performance too got reflected in the rankings. He reached the semi-finals, bowing out to the eventual champion Verma in three games. And that courageous display has now pushed him up 19 places to 82.

No change for Saina, Sindhu and Srikanth

Elsewhere, Kidambi Srikanth, HS Prannoy and Sai Praneeth maintain their eighth, 13th and 24th positions respectively. Beyond the top 50, Parupalli Kashyap is 52nd, Sourabh Verma is 55th, Ajay Jayaram is 59th, and Subhankar Dey is 64th.

In women’s singles, there has been no change for the top women’s shuttlers of the country. While PV Sindhu continues to remain third, Saina Nehwal is still 10th.

Vaishnavi Reddy Jakka is 55th, Sri Krishna Priya Kudaravalli is 77th, Mugdha Agrey is 83rd, Ruthvika Shivani Gadde is 86th, and Rasika Raje is 93rd.

Men’s doubles national champions Manu Attri and B Sumeeth Reddy are 28th. India’s top women’s doubles pair of Sikki Reddy and Ashwini Ponnappa are 27th while the mixed doubles pair of Ponnappa and Rankireddy are 25th.