Srikanth Kidambi continues to lead the Dubai World Superseries Rankings, HS Prannoy jumps five spots

Indian shuttler Srikanth Kidambi consolidated his position at the top of the table in the BWF Destination Dubai World Superseries Rankings 2017 -- a yearly ranking system that determines which eight players and pairs can participate in the season-ending championships at Dubai in December. The Guntur-born ace now has 59500 points after grabbing a whopping 9200 points following his win at the French Open Superseries last week.

That has enabled him to widen the gap between himself and the second-placed Son Wan Ho of Korea, who has 50240 points against his name.

Srikanth first climbed to the pinnacle in the World Superseries Rankings after a stupendous show in June that saw him clinch back-to-back titles in consecutive weeks at the Indonesia Open and the Australian Open. Even though he relinquished his top spot later on, he regained it after his third Superseries triumph of the year at the Denmark Open.

Now with a staggering fourth Superseries title in Paris that made him the first Indian to accomplish this feat, he has solidified his position further as the BWF Tour enters the last stretch of the Superseries season. Only two out of the 12 Superseries tournaments in a year are left -- the China Open and the Hong Kong Open, both of which are scheduled in November.

HS Prannoy inching closer to qualifying

India never had two men’s singles exponents competing at the World Superseries Finals. But it could happen for the first time this year.

With a semi-final finish at the French Open, HS Prannoy has made a jump of five places to move up to 11th. He now has 36190 points, which is around 300 points less than the currently eighth-placed Lee Chong Wei, who has 39010.

If Prannoy, who also made the quarter-finals at the Denmark Open, can continue to make deep runs in the upcoming Superseries tournaments, he has a good chance of finding a berth in the top-eight.

Singapore Open Superseries winner B Sai Praneeth has dropped one spot to 13th after bowing out in the second round of the French Open. He needs to make a big push in the next Superseries events to have any hope of qualifying.

Sindhu rises, Saina static

A semi-final appearance at the French Open has ensured that PV Sindhu gets to climb one rung to fourth in the race to Dubai. Meanwhile, former World Superseries Finals runner-up Saina Nehwal holds on to the 11th spot in the standings.

Nehwal made an ascent last week after her run to the quarter-finals of the Denmark Open. But having bowed out in the second round in Paris, she could not climb any further. Much like Prannoy, she too will need to put on a strong show at the China Open and the Hong Kong Open to get through to the final eight.

Ponnappa and Reddy in contention

The only Indian doubles pair that has a realistic chance of qualification is the women’s doubles combine of Ashwini Ponnappa and N Sikki Reddy. The two are now at 10th and will have to battle it out with the likes of Jung Kyung Eun-Shin Seung Chan, Yu Xiaohan-Huang Yaqiong and Hsu Ya Ching-Wu Ti Jung for the eighth spot.