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The 2017 French Open not only rewarded Indian badminton with a first-ever Superseries semi-final between two Indian shuttlers but it has also ensured that both Srikanth Kidambi and HS Prannoy get to climb to their respective career-best rankings at the end of it. The irrepressible Srikanth, who got the better of Prannoy in the semi-finals with a 14-21, 21-19, 21-18 scoreline, is all set to rise two spots to a career-high No. 2 when the new BWF rankings are released on November 2, 2017, irrespective of the French Open final result.
Prannoy might have bowed out in the semi-finals of a Superseries tournament for the second time this year but his Paris performance will push him up one rung to a career-best 11th.
Ranking rise explained
A win will fetch the World No. 4 Srikanth 9200 points which can take him to 73403 points while a runner-up finish will give him 7800 that takes his tally to 72003 points. The currently second-placed Son Wan Ho bowed out in the first round this year which is in sharp contrast to his quarter-final appearance in 2016.
When his 2016 points drop off, the Korean will have a total of 70298 points against his name, which puts him below the Indian.
Srikanth’s earlier highest rank has been third that he reached in August, 2015. So, as explained above, how he fares in the final on Sunday against the World No. 40 Kenta Nishimoto, will not make any difference.
As for Prannoy, he matched his career-high of 12th after reaching the quarter-finals of the Denmark Open last week. Now he is set to better even that with his run to the last-four this week.
The Kerala shuttler had departed from this tournament in the second round last year. Now with a semi-final, 6420 points will be added to his tally of 50465 and on deduction of his 2016 points from it, his total will be 53285.
The currently 11th ranked Tian Houwei will have a total tally of 51670 next week which confirms that Prannoy will overtake him to grab the 11th place.
Also read: Srikanth Kidambi becomes the first Indian man to reach the final of the French Open Superseries
Srikanth back to top spot in 2017 Dubai World Superseries rankings
His stellar 2017 season has put Srikanth back to the top spot in the World Superseries Destination Dubai Rankings 2017, a yearly ranking system that calculates which eight players will get to compete at the season-ending championships.
After his Denmark Open success, he exchanged places with Son Wan Ho and is now comfortably perched at the top spot with 50300 points. The Pullela Gopichand protégé had first jumped to the No. 1 spot following his twin glory at the Indonesia Open and the Australian Open in June.
