Parupalli Kashyap breaks into top 10

Parupalli Kashyap achieved a long savoured dream when he finally broke into the world top-ten on Thursday. In the latest rankings released by Badminton World Federation, Kashyap moved one place up from 11. He has often talked about how important it was to him to enter the top-ten.

Kashyap’s rise up the rankings from No.31 in April 2012 to No.2 was due to some consistent results over the last year. He reached the semifinals of the India Open and Indonesia Open, and followed that up with a quarterfinal performance at the Olympics. He wrapped up the year by winning the Syed Modi GP Gold in December, and that enabled him to shoot up the rankings. He is the highest ranked Indian men’s singles player since his coach Pullela Gopichand, who was in the top-five a decade ago.

Teammate Saina Nehwal also jumped up one place, from No.3 to No.2. This matches her career-best ranking which she achieved in 2010, after winning the Hong Kong Open Superseries.

Ajay Jayaram’s ranking remains unchanged at No.31, while Guru Sai Dutt is the next highest at No.39, followed by Sourabh Verma at No.41. PV Sindhu has moved one place up to No.16.