Saina, Srikanth qualify for World Superseries Finals in Dubai

World No.2 Saina Nehwal qualified for the year-ender after finishing fifth in the Superseries women’s singles rankings. The 25-year old won the Indian Open title in March after reaching the final of All England Open. She also reached the final of China Open.

Kidambi Srikanth qualified for the Superseries Finals after Tian Houwei of China, who finished seventh, missed out on the final spot as only a maximum of two players from member associations are allowed in the top 8. With World No. 1 Chen Long and two-time Olympic champion Lin Dan qualifying for the finals, Tian Houwei missed out on a spot in the year-ender.

Srikanth, who has been going through a bad patch of form, qualified for the event despite finishing ninth.  He was lucky to make the list as he had just 200 points more than 10th-placed Tommy Sugiarto of Indonesia.

In women’s doubles, Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponappa missed the final spot by two, as they finished tenth in the rankings. 

See below for points obtained by Men's and Women's singles players for the Dubai season-ender!

Men’s Singles qualifiers

1. Chen Long (China) 79,040

2. Kento Momota (Japan) 67,090

3. Jan O Jorgensen (Denmark) 60,760

4. Viktor Axelsen (Denmark) 60,160

5. Lin Dan (China) 59,340

6. Chou Tien Chen (Chinese Taipei) 58,490

(7. Tian Houwei* (China) 54,390

*will not qualify as only 2 players from an MA are eligible)

7. Hu Yun (Hong Kong) 46,930

8. K Srikanth (India) 44,940

Women’s Singles qualifiers

1. Carolina Marin (Spain) 77,470

2. Wang Shixian (China) 70,060

3. Wang Yihan (China) 67,870

(4. Li Xuerui* (China) 62,370

*will not qualify as only 2 players from an MA are eligible)

4. Nozomi Okuhara (Japan) 61,120

5. Saina Nehwal (India) 59,650

6. Tai Tzu Ying (Chinese Taipei) 57,990

7. Ratchanok Intanon (Thailand) 57,750

8. Sung Ji Hyun (Korea) 55,480