BWF Rankings: Indian duo attain No 5 ranking

Indian men’s doubles badminton pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty achieved a career-best world No. 5 ranking after jumping two spots in the latest BWF World Rankings, released on Tuesday.Chirag and Satwiksairaj started the 2022 season on a winning note by claiming the Indian Open Super 500 event and they haven’t dropped out of the top 10 rankings since then.Showing their consistency throughout the season, the Indian duo won the bronze medal at the World Championships in Tokyo and lifted their maiden Super 750 title at the French Open. At the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, Chirag and Satwiksairaj won India’s first-ever gold medal in men’s doubles in the 2022 Commonwealth Games.They also helped India become badminton world champions for the first time with impressive performances at the Thomas Cup.Meanwhile, Lakshya Sen dropped down to world No. 7 but remained India’s top-ranked player in the men’s singles category. On the other hand, H.S. Prannoy, who registered a win against world No. 1 Viktor Axelsen at the BWF World Tour Finals, entered the top 10 for the first time in over four years and is ranked at world No. 9.Former World Championships silver medallist Kidambi Srikanth is ranked 11th. No other Indian men’s singles player is ranked inside the top 30.In women’s singles, two-time Olympic medallist P.V. Sindhu, who has been out of action due to an injury since winning gold at the Commonwealth Games 2022, is ranked sixth.London 2012 bronze medallist Saina Nehwal is ranked a place below Malvika Bansod at world No. 33 while Aakarshi Kashyap is ranked 35th.In women’s doubles, Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand are India’s top-ranked pair at world No. 18. They won a bronze medal at the Commonwealth Games after making the semifinals of the All England Open. Ashwini Ponnappa and N. Sikki Reddy are ranked world No. 24.In mixed doubles, Tanisha Crasto and Ishaan Bhatnagar moved up three places to the 21st spot.