What's the story?
After making it to the quarter-finals of the All England Championships for the first time in her career, Rio Olympic silver medallist PV Sindhu has risen one spot to match her career-best ranking of fifth.
She is not the only big mover in the latest BWF Rankings released on Thursday, though. Subhankar Dey, who captured the Portuguese International and was the only title-winning Indian shuttler last week, made a big jump of 11 places to 95.
In case you didn't know...
India's top two shuttle queens – Saina Nehwal and Sindhu – had the best performance of the entire contingent at the prestigious All England Championships last week as they reached the quarter-finals. While Sindhu bowed out to the eventual champion and World No. 1 Tai Tzu Ying, Nehwal saved multiple match points and fought hard only to succumb to the World No. 3 Sung Ji Hyun in two tight games.
The heart of the matter
There was no change in ranking for Nehwal as she stayed put in 9th.
Meanwhile, in men's singles, HS Prannoy, who made it to the second round, dropped one place to 23. Srikanth Kidambi slid three spots to a lowly 31st and the Syed Modi International winner Sameer Verma plummeted eight rungs to sit 35th.
In contrast, Sameer's elder brother Sourabh rose a place to 40th. Ajay Jayaram, meanwhile, continues to be the India No. 1 at 19.
In men's doubles, Manu Attri and B Sumeeth Reddy maintained their 23rd ranking. Meghana Jakkampudi and Poorvisha S Ram soared high in women's doubles. They jumped six places to reach a career-high 37.
Ashwini Ponnappa and Sikki Reddy, who won a round of qualifying at the All England Championships before bowing out, surged two spots to 48th.
Sikki, however, slid one rung to 14th in mixed doubles alongside Pranaav Jerry Chopra.
What's next?
The Indian shuttlers are in action this week at the Swiss Open Grand Prix Gold where defending champion HS Prannoy has made it to the quarter-finals. After this, they will be gearing up for the India Open Superseries scheduled to be held in Delhi from March 28-April 2.
Also read: Saina Nehwal withdraws from the Swiss Open
Author's Take
With the Superseries circuit having just begun, there are plenty of opportunities for the Indian shuttlers to rise up the rankings in the next few months. Sindhu, for one, has been aiming to enter the top 3 by the end of the year and if she can keep being consistent, there is no reason why she cannot fulfil her goal.
