Satwik-Chirag return to top 10 in BWF rankings; Lakshya, Unnati climb in singles

Asian Games gold medallists Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty returned to the top 10 in the BWF men’s doubles World Rankings released on Tuesday, climbing three spots following their semifinal finish at the China Open last week.

The former world No. 1 duo, now ranked 10th, lost to the Malaysian pair of Aaron Chia and Soh Wooi Yik 13-21, 17-21 in the semifinals.

This was their third semifinal appearance on the BWF Tour this season, having earlier reached the last four at the Singapore Open and India Open.

The Indian pair had reclaimed the world No. 1 ranking after the title win at the Thailand Open last year.

In men’s singles, top-ranked Indian Lakshya Sen moved up two places to No. 17 with 54,442 points, just ahead of China’s Zhenxiang Wang, who jumped five spots to 18.

HS Prannoy also climbed two places to reach world No. 33 with 40,336 points.

In women’s singles, 17-year-old Unnati Hooda rose four spots to a career-best No. 31 after her landmark pre-quarterfinal win over double Olympic medallist PV Sindhu last week.

The Haryana shuttler stunned Sindhu 21-16, 19-21, 21-13 in a gruelling hour-and-13-minute battle to reach the quarterfinals, where she lost to third seed Akane Yamaguchi of Japan.

Sindhu, meanwhile, remained static at No. 15 and continues to be the highest-ranked Indian in women’s singles.

In women’s doubles, India’s top pair of Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand held steady at No. 11, while Tanisha Crasto and Ashwini Ponnappa moved up two spots to 45.