BWF World Rankings: India's best names drop down, Kiran George achieves career high

In an unsurprising update, the latest BWF World Rankings brought a string of disappointments for India. After devastating first round losses for all Indians at last week's China Open, the rank lists were unforgiving.

HS Prannoy, who recently rose to a career best of world number 6 after his bronze medal winning performance at the World Championships, slipped down to world number 7.

Men's singles players Lakshya Sen and Srikanth Kidambi also dropped down a spot in the rankings. While Sen is now ranked 13th in the world for men's singles, Kidambi is ranked 21st. This is the first time that Kidambi has been booted out of the BWF World Rankings top 20 in quite some time.

Star men's doubles duo Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty also moved down a rank in the latest list. While the duo had achieved a personal best of world number 2 on the back of consecutive title wins, a dismal show at the China Open means that they're now third in the world.

For women's singles, PV Sindhu managed to hold on to her world rank 14. The two time Olympic medalist dropped out of the world's top ten after a decade earlier this year, and is yet to stage a comeback.

Saina Nehwal, once India's brightest badminton star, dropped to 55 in the BWF World Rankings.

Treesa Jolly and Gayathri Gopichand also had a downfall, as they are now ranked 18th in the women's doubles event.

BWF World Rankings: Indian underdogs on the rise

While the big names of India might have been dealt a blow with the latest BWF World Rankings, the underdogs have thrived.

Kiran George, who recently claimed his first-ever BWF Super 100 title at the Indonesia Masters, moved up 11 places to be ranked 39th in the world.

Women's doubles pair Ashwini Ponnappa and Tanisha Crasto moved up a spot in the rankings to break into the top 50.

Mixed doubles duo Rohan Kapoor and Sikki Reddy also moved up a spot to claim the 31st rank. They are now India's highest ranked mixed doubles players.