HS Prannoy has moved to a career-best eighth in latest badminton rankings. (Source: PTI)
After their bronze medal finishes at the Asia Championships in Wuhan, China, both HS Prannoy and Saina Nehwal climbed into the top-10 of the badminton rankings updated on Thursday (May 3). Both Prannoy and Nehwal moved two places to reach World No 8 and World No 10 respectively. This is Prannoy’s best-ever ranking while Nehwal is in the top-10 after a period of three months.
Following the update, Prannoy exclaimed, “Yesssss!!! World No 8 !! Only upwards from here 🔝🔝🔝🔝 #Careerbest”.
In the latest rankings, India have two representatives in both the men’s and women’s rankings inside the top-10. Kidambi Srikanth moved up two places to third in the rankings having held the top spot in Week 15 (April 12) of the rankings. Srikanth now has 74,135 points while Prannoy has 57,000 points. Viktor Axelsen of Denmark is the top-ranked player with 77,570 points. Gold medallist in Wuhan, Kento Momota has moved five places to World No 12.
Prannoy became the third Indian male shuttler to win a medal at the Asia Championships after Dinesh Khanna (1965) and Anup Sridhar (2007). In the semifinal, Prannoy went down to Olympic champion and two-time World Champion Chen Long 16-21, 18-21. He was also part of the mixed team triumphed in Gold Coast.
Nehwal who won two gold medals – in mixed team event and women’s singles at the Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast – and a bronze in April, has moved to World No 10 with 55,890 points. PV Sindhu remains unchanged at World No 3 with 78,824 points.
Nehwal’s dreadful run against Tai Tzu Ying continued in Wuhan when despite a gutsy effort, she went down to the Chinese Taipei player 25-27, 19-21. This was Nehwal’s ninth straight loss to the new World No 1. She, with the gold medal, displaces Akane Yamaguchi at the top of the charts.
The highest ranked Indian shuttlers in men’s doubles are Satwik Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty who remain constant at World No 18. In women’s doubles, Ashwini Ponnappa and N Sikki Reddy are 26th while in mixed doubles, Pranaav Chopra and Sikki Reddy are 23rd in the rankings.