In-form Indian shuttler Kidambi Srikanth is back among the top-10 in Badminton World Federation (BWF) rankings after a eight-month-long hiatus. The Guntur youngster has jumped three places to eighth in the table, leapfrogging Denmark's Jan O Jorgensen and Hong Kong's Ng Ka Long.
The rise in rankings comes as a reward for Srikanth, who has been among the most consistent shuttlers in the Men's singles circuit. The 24-year-old became the first Inidan to win two consecutive Superseries titles when he was crowned the champion in Australian Open and Indonesia Open earlier this month.
Srikanth also became the only fifth shuttler in the world to reach three straight Superseries finals. Notably, the win in Jakarta also gave him his second World Superseries Premier title after his 2014 China Open win, which came after he defeated two-time Olympic champion Lin Dan in the final.
The four-time Superseries winner won the praise of his coach and former All England champion Pullela Gopichand with the way he has eased past top-ranked shuttlers in the recent months. Notably, Srikanth made light work of reigning Olympic champion Chen Long in the Australian Open final on Sunday, June 25 before which he had beaten the likes of world number one Son Wan Ho and All England Championships runner-up Shi Yuqi.
India's Sai Praneeth, who won the Singapore Superseries in April, has also moved one spot higher to 15th while veteran shuttler Ajay Jayaram has dropped a spot to 16th. Notably, the former lost in the quarter-final of Australian Open to Srikanth, whom he had beaten in the all-Indian title match in Singapore.
South Korea's Son retained his spot at the top of the rankings, while Malaysian legend Lee Chong Wei consolidated his second spot. Shi is still the highest-ranked Chinese Men's singles shuttler, but the youngster is facing stiff competition from Chen, who has moved a spot to 5th.
Inconsistency costs PV Sindhu
In the Women's singles circuit, PV Sindhu dropped a spot to 5th after some inconsistent results in the ongoing season. The Rio Olympic silver medalist has not progressed beyond the quarter-final in any tournaments since her India Open win in April. The 21-year-old lost to world number one Tai Tzu Ying in the last-eight stage of the Australian Open earlier this month.
Meanwhile, Saina Nehwal has climbed a spot to 15th in the list and she still remains the second-ranked Indian Women's singles shuttler. Among the notable movers was Australian Open runner-up Akane Yamaguchi as she leapfrogged two shuttlers to the second spot.
