Sai Praneeth and Srikanth Kidambi each rise eight spots in latest BWF Rankings

What’s the story?

The all-Indian final at last week's Singapore Open Superseries has effected a rise of eight spots in the latest BWF Rankings for both champion B Sai Praneeth and runner-up Srikanth Kidambi. While Srikanth is now placed at 21st, Sai is right behind him at 22nd.

This is the first time that the 24-year-old Sai broke into the top 25 of the rankings. For the former World No. 3 Srikanth too, the Singapore Open final appearance did a world of good to his rankings after he had slipped below 30^th due to an injury-induced layoff.

In case you didn't know...

The Singapore Open final was of great significance for Indian badminton for it was the first time ever that two shuttlers from the country contested for the title in any Superseries tournament. Sai edged his higher accomplished compatriot Srikanth, 17-21, 21-17, 21-12 to clinch his maiden Superseries crown.

The heart of the matter

Apart from Sai, the India No. 1 Ajay Jayaram too rose one place to reach his career-best ranking of 13^th. Sameer Verma too surged to 27^th while his elder brother, Sourabh is now at 40^th. HS Prannoy, however, slid two spots to be 29^th.

In women’s singles, PV Sindhu has soared to World No. 3 after her quarter-final finish at the Singapore Open and Saina Nehwal is now at eighth. National champion Rituparna Das has risen six spots to be 46^th.

Ashwini Ponnappa and N Sikki Reddy also jumped eight spots to grab the newly-formed team’s highest ranking of 30^th in women’s doubles. They are the India No. 1 team now in that category.

In mixed doubles, Sikki Reddy and Pranaav Jerry Chopra are at 15^th. Manu Attri and B Sumeeth Reddy are at 26^th, Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty dropped to 44^th while Arjun MR and Shlok Ramchandran climbed to 48^th in men’s doubles.

What's next?

The Indian shuttlers will next be seen in action at the Badminton Asia Championships scheduled to be held in Wuhan, China from April 25-30.

Author's Take

The rankings are not only a major boost for Indian men’s singles badminton but with Sai and Srikanth now in the top 25, India also has the grand opportunity of sending three men’s singles players to the prestigious World Championships in August.