Kidambi Srikanth breaks back into top 10; Lakshya Sen, HS Prannoy rise in latest BWF World Rankings

Kidambi Srikanth has broken back into the top 10 of the world rankings following his incredible silver-medal finish at the BWF World Championships last week. The former World No. 1's sizzling run in Huelva has propelled a rise of four spots to 10th in the latest rankings released on Tuesday, December 21.

20-year-old Lakshya Sen, who finished with the bronze medal on his BWF World Championships debut, also jumped a couple of berths. He is now placed at a career-high 17th.

Sen's rise has pushed the 2019 World Championships bronze medalist Sai Praneeth down to 19th.

HS Prannoy's stupendous showing at the world event, too, has triggered a ranking rise. The Keralite, who made a giant-killing run to the quarterfinals, has moved up six rungs to 26th.

Meanwhile, newly-crowned world champion Loh Kean Yew, who became the first Singaporean shuttler to win a world title, ascended to 15th after a jump of seven spots. The 24-year-old will be one of the star attractions at the Yonex-Sunrise India Open 2022, a BWF Super 500 tournament, scheduled to be held in New Delhi next month.

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Read: Twitter erupts as Kidambi Srikanth beats Lakshya Sen in a thriller to enter final of BWF World Championships

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PV Sindhu, whose BWF World Championships title defense ended in the quarterfinals, remains static at seventh in the women's singles ranking. 2012 London Olympic bronze medalist Saina Nehwal, too, continues to hold on to the 25th spot.

In men's doubles, Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty have slipped a rung to 10th. The women's doubles combination of Ashwini Ponnappa and Sikki Reddy has moved up by a solitary berth to 20th.

Rankireddy and Ponnappa remain India's highest-ranked pair at 25th in mixed doubles.

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Kidambi Srikanth created history at BWF World Championships

Last week, Kidambi Srikanth etched his name in the annals of India's sporting history. Srikanth became the first shuttler from the country to enter the men's singles final at the BWF World Championships.

Lakshya Sen, Sai Praneeth and Prakash Padukone, who are the other Indian men's singles medalists at this prestigious event, have all settled for bronze.

Although Srikanth could not cross the final hurdle, falling 15-21, 20-22 to Loh Kean Yew, he should be proud of his efforts at Huelva. This was the Pullela Gopichand protégé's first final since the India Open 2019. Srikanth also made back-to-back semifinals at the Hylo Open and the Indonesia Masters last month.

His performances over the past couple of months should give him a lot of confidence ahead of the new season.