What's the story?
The steadily-rising Indian shuttler, Subhankar Dey made the biggest news in the BWF Rankings released on Thursday. The 23-year-old, who reached the third round of the Swiss Open Grand Prix Gold last week, jumped 16 places to be 79th and is now just eight places away from his career-best ranking of 71st which he achieved in 2014. Dey has already won two titles this year – the Iceland International and the Portuguese International.
Meanwhile, there were contrasting fortunes for two of India's top players in the latest rankings. While Saina Nehwal rose one spot to be 8th in women's singles, HS Prannoy plummeted three places to be 26th in men's singles following his quarter-final exit from the Swiss Open.
In case you didn't know...
Prannoy was the defending champion at the Swiss Open. In 2016, he won it as a 13th seeded underdog and scalped three seeds on his way to the title. This time, he notched up three good wins but ran into the in-form Chinese Shi Yuqi, who had made it to the final of the All England Championships just a week earlier.
Two-time champion Saina Nehwal was originally the top seed in women's singles but had pulled out to get herself some much-needed rest after a quarter-final appearance at the All England Championships.
The heart of the matter
The India No. 1 women's singles player, PV Sindhu, meanwhile, stayed put at World No. 5 ranking.
In men's singles, Ajay Jayaram continues to be the top-ranked Indian at No. 19. Former India No. 1 Kidambi Srikanth, who is on the comeback trail after injury, too maintains his 31st ranking.
Sameer Verma dropped four spots to 39th while his elder brother Sourabh and Sai Praneeth too slide a rung each to 41st and 34th respectively.
In women’s doubles, the Meghana Jakkampudi and Poorvisha S Ram – who are the current India No. 1 from active teams – dropped a solitary spot to be 38th. Sanjana Santosh and Arathi S Sunil, surged three places to overtake Ashwini Ponnappa and Sikki Reddy to be 49th while the latter are at 50th.
In men’s doubles, Manu Attri and B Sumeeth Reddy are now at 22nd. Arjun MR and Shlok Ramchandran slid to 56th and the combine of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty too suffered a mini slide to be placed at 59th.
Pranaav Jerry Chopra and Sikki Reddy regained their highest ranking of 13th in mixed doubles.
What's next?
The Indian contingent is gearing up well for the India Open Superseries that is scheduled to be held in New Delhi from March 28-April 2. This is the second Superseries tournament of the season.
Author's take
Subhankar Dey’s rise indicates the depth of men’s singles in the country. With a little bit more consistency, India can become a strong force even in men’s singles.
