BWF Rankings: Kashyap climbs to No. 7 spot, Sania retains No. 2 position

FILE PHOTO: Parupalli Kashyap moved to No. 7 in latest WBF rankings

India’s ace shuttler Parupalli Kashyap moved up one spot to be placed seventh in the men’s singles category in the latest Badminton World Federation (BWF) rankings released on Thursday. Kashyap last played in the Swiss Open in Basel, where he entered the third round and came a cropper against Malaysia’s Wei Feng Chong.

However, badminton icon Saina Nehwal continues to cling on to her world number two ranking in the women’s singles category.

Like Kashyap, Saina also last took part in the Swiss Open in Basel, where she lost in the semifinals to nemesis Wang Shixian of China.

Among the other Indian men, Ajay Jayaram, who reached the third round of the ongoing New Zealand Open in Auckland, retained his number 30 position. RMV Gurusaidutt also took the same route, retaining his 36 spot.

However, Sourabh Varma,who advanced one spot last week, dropped one place this time around to be placed 38th.

Sourabh last featured in the Swiss Open where he was sent packing in the opening round. Sourabh earlier made it to the second round of the All England Badminton Championships.

Anand Pawar, who reached the third round of the Yonex Australian Open a week back, advanced one spot to be ranked 48th.

B Sai Praneeth and K Srikanth also retained her last week’s rankings of 59 and 62 respectively.

HS Pranoy, who grabbed the eyeballs when he reached the semifinals of the Polish Open, before subsequently giving the Australian Open and New Zealand Open tournaments a miss, moved up one place to occupy the 71st spot.

Old warhorse Chetan Anand, who once reached a career-high ranking of 14, fell five spots to be placed 100th, while Arvind Bhat climbed two spots to be placed 98th.

Anup Sridhar retained his last week’s ranking of 109.

Among the Indian women, PV Sindhu maintained her number 16 spot. Sindhu last played in the Swiss Open where she progressed to the second round.

Arundhati Pantawane moved up two spots to be ranked 96th. Arundhati fared well at the recent Polish Open, reaching the quarterfinals.

PC Thulsai, another semifinalist at the Polish Open advanced two spots to be ranked 97th.

Tanvi Lad, who made it to the quarterfinals of the Polish Open, fell one spot to be placed 101th.

Sayali Gokhale dropped three to occupy the 119th spot.

Sarada Jasti leaped 19 spots to be ranked 125th, while Neha Pandit also dropped two spots to be placed 149th.