What's the story?
India No. 1 men's singles shuttler Ajay Jayaram's fabulous performance at last week's Malaysia Open Superseries Premier has powered him to a career-best 14th in the latest BWF Rankings released on Thursday. Jayaram caused a huge upset in the second round by sending the World No. 2 and India Open champion Viktor Axelsen home. He was the only Indian to reach the quarter-finals as the rest of the Indian contingent crashed out early.
In contrast to Jayaram, Sindhu slipped three places to be fifth after suffering a shock first round exit at the same tournament. The Pullela Gopichand protege climbed to a career-high second a week earlier after her India Open triumph.
In case you didn't know...
At this week's Singapore Open, Jayaram and Sindhu had a reversal of fortunes. While Sindhu has now made it to the quarter-finals, the World No. 14 men's singles ace bowed out in the first round.
The heart of the matter
India's other golden girl, Saina Nehwal, who also made a first round departure from the Malaysia Open, stayed put at 9th.
In men's singles, apart from Jayaram, B Sai Praneeth too had a rise and is now up to 30th. Other than them, the rest of the Indians in the top 50 all slid down the rankings by one spot. HS Prannoy, Sameer Verma and Srikanth Kidambi are placed one after the other at 27th, 28th and 29th respectively while Sourabh Verma is 42nd.
Ashwini Ponnappa and N Sikki Reddy, meanwhile, have made it inside the top 40 and are now at 38th. They are now five places away from the top Indian pair of Meghana Jakkampudi and Poorvisha S Ram, who are at 33rd.
In mixed doubles, Reddy maintained her 14th ranking alongside Pranaav Jerry Chopra. Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and K Maneesha have jumped seven places to be 70th.
It hasn’t been a good few weeks for India’s No. 1 men’s doubles pairing of Manu Attri and B Sumeeth Reddy. Slide continues for the former World No. 17 team and they are now down to 27th.
15 places away from them at 42nd are the teenage duo of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty, who rose three spots this week.
What's next?
Next up for the Indian shuttlers is the Badminton Asia Championships to be held in Wuhan, China from April 25-30.
Author's take
Breaking into the top 15 at the age of 29 is the reward for Jayaram’s dedication and perseverance. And it once more signals the improved consistency and the depth in the men’s singles section in Indian badminton.
