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Indian badminton legend PV Sindhu, a two-time Olympic medallist, dropped three spots in the latest BWF rankings for women's singles. The rankings, released on Tuesday, now place Sindhu at 15th position worldwide. This decline in ranking reflects a substantial decrease for the former world number two over the year. She began the 2023 season as the seventh-ranked player but fell out of the top 10 in April. Back in April 2017, Sindhu reached her career-best ranking of second globally, having previously been a world champion.
Sindhu has struggled with her form since winning gold at the 2022 Commonwealth Games, suffering first round exits at both the Malaysian and Indian Opens in January 2023. The 27-year-old hasn’t progressed past the second round of any tournament this year aside from the Madrid Open, where she reached the final, and the Malaysia Masters.
The Indian badminton legend parted ways with her South Korean coach Park Tae-Sang at the start of the year, though it is unknown how much this has to do with the shuttler’s loss of form in the current season. Despite this, the shuttler is still ahead of other Indian female shuttlers such as Saina Nehwal (30), Aakarshi Kashyap (42), Ashmita Chaliha (44), and Malvika Bansod (46). Sindhu will hope to turn her dismal season around and finish off the year with good performances in upcoming BWF events.
HS Prannoy rise up to No.8; Srikanth at No. 21
For the men’s side, HS Prannoy has continued his rise up the Men’s Rankings and is ranked eighth in the world. This is following his win at the Malaysia Masters in May, his first BWF world tour title. This confirms his place as the highest ranked Indian shuttler in the world. Prannoy is ahead of former world ranked first Kidambi Srikanth, who fell to rank 21. For the men’s doubles category, Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty remain at World No. 3.
