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Indian shuttler Srikanth Kidambi’s maiden title win at the Denmark Open Superseries Premier hauled him up four places in the latest world rankings released by the Badminton World Federation (BWF) on Thursday, October 26, 2017. The India No. 1 is now placed at fourth which is one spot shy of his career-best ranking of 3rd that he achieved in August, 2015.
The Pullela Gopichand protégé’s momentous feat made him just the second Indian man to win the Denmark Open following Prakash Padukone’s triumph in 1979-80. This was the Guntur-born shuttler’s third Superseries title of what has been the best season of his career. The 24-year-old earlier clinched Superseries titles at the Indonesia Open and the Australian Open in June.
Prannoy equals career-best ranking
US Open champion HS Prannoy too had a jump in the rankings following his quarter-final show in Odense last week. The Kerala ace, who stunned the legendary Lee Chong Wei in the second round, rose two rungs to equal his career-best ranking of 12th.
Sai Praneeth and Sameer Verma too surged a solitary spot each to reach 15th and 18th respectively. In contrast, Ajay Jayaram, who is currently on a break, dropped two places to 23rd.
Sourabh Verma stayed put at 41st while Commonwealth Games champion Parupalli Kashyap dropped to 47th. Subhankar Dey, who qualified for the Denmark Open, soared four places to 69th.
Saina Nehwal rises
Saina Nehwal has been rewarded with a rise in the rankings after reaching the quarter-finals in Odense. The Indian ousted the Olympic champion Carolina Marin in the first round in a battle of former World No. 1s. She is now just outside the top 10 at 11th.
PV Sindhu maintains her second spot in the rankings despite a first round setback last week. National champion Rituparna Das has slid down the rankings to 50th.
In men’s doubles, the young pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty held on to their 32nd position. Manu Attri and B Sumeeth Reddy trail them by just one spot.
The women’s doubles team of Ashwini Ponnappa and N Sikki Reddy too fell down the ladder to 23rd following their first round defeat in Denmark.
Big jump for Rankireddy and Ponnappa
In mixed doubles, Pranaav Jerry Chopra and Sikki Reddy climbed to 16th. Their results on the court have not been great of late, though. The India No. 1 pair, who reached the semi-finals at the Japan Open, could not cross the first round hurdle in Denmark.
Meanwhile, the newly-formed pair of Rankireddy and Ponnappa continues to make a splash on the rankings chart. The two qualified for the Denmark Open which has propelled them up the order by 13 spots to 85th.
