HS Prannoy, Parupalli Kashyap, Sai Pranneth, PV Sindhu have made winning start to the event, while Saina Nehwal has made a first round exit losing her first match.
Star Indian shuttler HS Prannoy has been enjoying a consistent wave of success. The consistency shown by him in the last few months has made him break into the world’s top 20 ranking again on Tuesday. According to the latest release of World Badminton Federation (WBF) Prannoy has jumped up two positions to be World no 19 in men’s singles.
The 29 year old had a pivotal role in the dynamic victory of India in the Thomas Cup tournament held in May 2022. Prannoy, who had his career best ranking of 8 in 2018, had been one of the most consistent Indian shuttlers. The Kerala boy is now the third highest ranked male shuttler surpassing Tokyo Olympian B Sai Praneeth 20th rank after Lakshya Sen (10th) and Kidambi Srikanth (11th).
“And we are back in the Top 20 of the World Rankings and Top 10 soon,” said Prannoy on entering the top 20 charts.
Two-time Olympic medallist PV Sindhu maintained her 7th spot in the latest chart, while shuttler Saina Nehwal also stayed static on 24th position. Chirag Shetty and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy are steady on eighth in the men’s doubles rankings, while Ashwini Ponnappa and N Sikki Reddy dropped to 24th position. Paruppali Kashyap, the 2014 Commonwealth Champion jumped three places to reach the World No. 36 ranking, riding on his second round appearance at the Malaysia Open Super 750 event.
The Verma brothers – Sameer and Sourabh – are the other two Indians inside the world’s top 50 shuttlers list. While Sameer is at 29th, Sourabh is at the 44th position until now.
While former World Champion Sindhu has claimed two Super 300 titles at Syed Modi International and Swiss Open this year, Prannoy is desperate to end a five-year long wait for a title win. Sindhu, a two-time Olympic medallist, has been consistently reaching the quarters and semis of the world tour events but she has been slightly vulnerable against the top players. Prannoy, on the other hand, has made a mark with his performance every time he has taken the court this season. With a series of quarterfinal finishes since the world championships last year, Prannoy has proved to be a tough competitor on the shuttling circuit, but a podium finish is still a task for him. As someone who has designed India’s epic Thomas Cup win in May, Prannoy has all the bearings of a champion, but he will need to ensure that he finds his best version this season against the top players consistently to seize the moment.
With the Commonwealth Games just weeks away, Indian star shuttlers are looking forward to sustaining their momentum when they take on another challenge at the Malaysia Masters Super 500 badminton tournament.
