Kolkata: Indian shuttler PV Sindhu has jumped three spots in the latest Badminton World Federation (BWF) rankings to grab herself her career best ranking of second on Thursday. The Olympic silver medalist recently defeated arch rival and Olympic gold medalist Carolina Marin in straight sets (21-19 21-16) at the India Open.
In the latest update to the Badminton World Federation rankings, Chinese Taipei’s Tai Tzu Ying stayed on top of the table with 87911 points while Sindhu moved up three places to become second. Carolina Marin, Sindhu’s opponent in the India Open final, stayed at third.
The 21-year-old shuttler from Hyderabad became only the second Indian woman after Saina Nehwal to break into the top-five of the world rankings by earning 75759 points. Saina though remains India’s sole shuttler to scale the heights of No 1 in the BWF rankings. The 2012 London Games medalist has slipped one spot to ninth place in the latest rankings.
This came up to be Sindhu’s first title at home after suffering a defeat in the Rio 2016 Olympics final at the hands of Marin. This was also Sindhu’ second Superseries title after the China Open last year while she also reached the finals at Hong Kong Super Series to qualify for BWF World Super Series Final in Dubai.
Sindhu claimed her second win in a row over the Spanish shuttler following her victory during the Dubai Masters in December.
Sadly though Sindhu recently suffered a first round exit at the hands of China’s Chen Yufei on Wednesday at the Malaysia Open. Winning the tournament could have given her the chance to top the rankings.
“I am glad that she has reached this spot. It is the result of everybody’s hard work. But the hard work has to continue. Sindhu knows that too and is determined to work hard and get better. We are also grateful for the love and affection of the countrymen. I also want to thank the press and media for their continuous support.” said Sindhu’s Arjuna awardee father, PV Ramana.
(With inputs from Times of India)