Indian star doubles pairing of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty have achieved a career-high ranking of World number three after they won their first Super 1000 event at the Indonesian Open. The Indian pairing showed exceptional gameplay in the finals to beat World Champions Aaron Chia and Soh Wooi Yik.
They also created history by becoming the first Indian doubles pairing to win the Super 1000 event. They have had a stellar 2023 where they earlier won the Swiss Open and also won the gold medal at the Badminton Asia Championships.
Interestingly, before the Indonesian Open finals, Rankireddy and Shetty had lost each of their last eight encounters with Chia and Soh. So many people thought that history will repeat itself but the Indian pairing showed great fight and commitment and won their first match in the head-to-head, that too in the finals, that also by straight games.
In Men’s singles, Srikanth Kidambi jumped three spots to break into the top 20 rankings in the World. He is currently 19th and that is due to his decent performances in recent events. Whereas Lakshya Sen, who is aiming to make a comeback has also jumped two placed to be placed at World number 18.
Top-ranked Indian men’s shuttler HS Prannoy maintained his place in World number nine after a good Indonesian Open. Youngster Priyanshu Rajawat, who has delivered some eye-catching performances in recent times also jumped up to become World No. 30. This is his career-best ranking. Also, India now have four shuttlers in the top 30 World Rankings.
Double Olympic medallist PV Sindhu has also improved her ranking by two spots to reach World Number 12 in the women’s singles category. Her compatriot Saina Nehwal has surprisingly moved up one spot to become World Number 31. It came as a surprise because the veteran has persistently suffered from injuries and fitness problems and has withdrawn her name from several events.
India’s best women’s doubles duo of Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand have retained their rank of 16, while Ashwini Bhat and Shikha Gautam have slipped down to 41st.
Lastly, the Indian Mixed Doubles pairing of Rohan Kapoor and Sikki Reddy maintained their place as India’s best mixed doubles pairing with a rank of 33. On the other hand, Tanisha Crasto and Ishan Bhatnagar dropped down to World Number 38.
The Olympic qualification period is going on and Indian shuttlers will be aiming to put their best foot forward in the upcoming events.
