PV Sindhu enters top-10 and surpasses Saina Nehwal in BWF rankings

Saina, who has recently struggled with a knee injury, has dropped out of the top-10 after a long time, and her recent quarterfinal exit at the Hong Kong Open is unlikely to help her cause. The 26-year-old had undergone a surgery for an intra-articular injury (inside the joint) to her right knee that she sustained during the Rio Olympics, which sidelined her from participating in any tournaments after that. She made her comeback at the China Open but was knocked out in the first round by an unseeded Thai player Porntip Buranaprasertuk.

Sindhu, on the other hand, followed up her success at the Rio Olympics with her maiden Superseries win at China Open after defeating Sun Yu of China in the final. She is now in contention to win the Hong Kong Open as well after grabbing a place in the semis earlier today.

In the Destination Dubai ranking for the BWF Super Series Final, Sindhu is ahead of Saina with 38,490 points compared to the latter’s 38,080 points, and now Sindhu’s progress into the semis of the Hong Kong Open means Sindhu will qualify for the prestigious tournament next month.

In the men’s ranking, Kidambi Srikanth, who had missed the China Open, remained at No.12, while Ajay Jayaram, who lost in the quarterfinal of the Hong Kong Open today, has moved up four places to No.19. HS Prannoy has also climbed a couple of places to No.25. In the men’s doubles rankings, Manu Attri and Sumeeth Reddy have dropped down a place to No.22.