For the first time, six Indian male shuttlers are ranked inside the top-50 men’s world rankings. In the latest Badminton World Federation rankings Kidambi Srikanth (12), Ajay Jayaram (19), HS Prannoy (25), Sai Praneeth (36), Sameer Verma (43) and Sourabh Varma (45), are all simultaneously ranked amongst the top 50 in the world.
- Ajay Jayaram, who bowed out in the quarter-final of the Hong Kong Super Series, jumped four places to 19th. He was also the runner-up at the Dutch Open in October as he lost out to Tzu Wei Wang of Chinese Taipei in the final.
- Kidambi Srikanth, who reached the quarter-finals at the Rio Olympics, has been out with injury for a while that has seen a dip in the rankings. The former world no. 3 slipped out of the top 10 in March this year and is currently ranked 12th. He gave the China and Hong Kong Open a miss and is preparing for the Macau Open.
- Sourabh’s younger brother, Sameer, claimed his first Super Series semi-final berth, earlier on Friday in the Hong Kong Open. He also reached the semi-finals at the Bitburger Open where he crashed out eventually. His good run of the performances has seen him positioned at 43rd in the world.
