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Shuttler Saina jumps 34 ranks
Saina, who became the first Indian woman and the youngest Asian to win a four-star badminton Grand Prix in Manila last week, is now way ahead of two other Indians ? Trupti Murgunde and Aparna Popat.
Saina Nehwal's historic title triumph at Philippines Open has catapulted her to No. 53 in world badminton rankings, a phenomenal jump of 34 places.
Saina, who became the first Indian woman and the youngest Asian to win a four-star badminton Grand Prix in Manila last week, is now way ahead of two other Indians — Trupti Murgunde and Aparna Popat.
The 16-year-old from Hyderabad entered as an unseeded player in the tournament but showed guts to beat top players including world No. 4 Xu Huwaein of Germany en route to her grand success.
The ranking would be a big boost for the Pullela Gopichand protege who is aiming to crack into the top 50 by the end of Asian Circuit and has Singapore Open and Malaysian Open to go after losing out in the qualifiers of Indonesia Open this week.
Murgunde is placed at 88 while nine-time national champion Aparna Popat is one step below her in the latest rankings released by the International Badminton Federation.
Both Murgunde and Popat were left out of the Asian circuit team by the Badminton Association of India because of its recent policy of promoting youngsters.
But the decision would have hurt Murgunde the most as the 24-year-old made it to the quarter-finals of the Asian Badminton Championship earlier this year.
In the men's charts, Chetan Anand moved four places up and finds himself at 20th spot.
National champion Anup Sridhar is at 58 while Arvind Bhat occupies 61st position. China's Lin Dan is at the top of men's singles rankings.
