New Delhi: India’s Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty have moved to the top spot in the men’s doubles category in the latest world badminton rankings following their title win at the Thailand Open in Bangkok last week.
Before the tournament, Satwik and Chirag (99,670 points) were in third place but this win took them ahead of China’s Liang Wei Keng and Wang Chang, who are 52 points behind the Indian pair with 99,618 points. Min Hyuk Kang and Seung Jae Seo of South Korea are in third place with 98,015 points.
Playing in their fourth final of the season, Satwiksairaj and Chirag defeated world number 29 Chinese pair Chen Bo Yang and Liu Yi in straight games 21-15, 21-15 in 46 minutes to win their second Thailand Open title. They were in tremendous form throughout the tournament and won all their matches in consecutive games.
The Asian Games gold-winning Indian pair won their first major title in the form of Thailand Open in 2019. He did not lose a single game in his quest to win his fourth Super 500 title.
Overall, this is the second title of the year for Satwiksairaj and Chirag. He won the French Open Super 750 tournament in March.
In singles, Lakshya Sen dropped three places to 14th. He has been out of the circuit since the Thomas Cup in April. H S Prannoy remains the top Indian with ninth position. In women’s singles, PV Sindhu has slipped to 15th but will aim to make a comeback at the Malaysia Masters this week. In women’s doubles, Tanishaa Crasto and Ashwini Ponnappa moved up to world No. 19 after reaching the semi-finals of the Thailand Open, while Tressa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand are ranked 29th.
