It might not have been a Thomas Cup campaign to remember for India, but promising youngster Lakshya Sen has reached his career-best ranking in the aftermath, jumping 16 places to No 72 in the latest rankings issued by Badminton World Federation on Thursday.
A depleted Indian squad put in a disappointing display in the world team championships in Bangkok, with Sen losing two of his three matches. His performance against France was especially disappointing, losing the match against Toma Junior Popov after leading 19-10 in the first game. He won his match against Kai Chen Teoh of Australia, before losing to Lin Dan in the final game. Incidentally, it was his second meeting with the Chinese legend within a month, and he took a game off Lin on both occasions.
HS Prannoy, who was rested against France in the Thomas Cup opener, moved up one place to be ranked No 8 while K Srikanth, out of action since the Commonwealth Games, stayed at No 4. Viktor Axelsen continues to lead the rankings for men’s singles. Sameer Verma moved up one spot to reach No 20, while B Sai Praneeth remained 18th.
There was no movement in the top 10 of women’s singles, with PV Sindhu and Saina Nehwal remaining third and 10th respectively, while Tai Tzu Ying continued her position as No 1. Sixteen-year-old Vaishnavi Jakka Reddy continued her rise in the rankings, moving up four places to reach No 52.
Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty continue to be the best-ranked men’s doubles pair in the country (No 18), while B Sumeeth Reddy and Manu Attri held on to their 22nd rank. While both the pairs were missing in action at the Thomas Cup, MR Arjun and Shlok Ramachandran moved up two places to reach No 36 after their impressive showing.
In women’s doubles, Sikki Reddy and Ashwini Ponnappa continue to be the best-ranked pair from India, slipping one place to 28th. In mixed doubles, Sikki and Pranaav Jerry Chopra gained a place to move up to 21st. Kuhoo Garg and Rohan Kapoor held on to their spot in the top 50 while Ashwini and Satwiksairaj gained three places to reach No 58.
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