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HS Prannoy has been in sensational form this year, regularly making the finals of multiple major events. The Indian shuttler won the Malaysia Masters earlier in this year and has now claimed a bronze medal at the BWF World Championships 2023, which has propelled him five places to a career high to No.6 in the world rankings.
Prannoy’s remarkable run at the World Championships saw him defeat two-time defending champion and World No. 1 Viktor Axelsen of Denmark in the quarter-finals, before losing a close semi-final match to Thailand’s Kunlavut Vitidsarn. The 31-year-old HS Prannoy became just the fifth Indian men's singles player to win a medal at the BWF World Badminton Championships, leaving his mark on Indian badminton history.
Prannoy went past China's Li Shi Feng in the rankings and is within touching distance of fifth ranked Shi Yu Qi. On the other hand, Lakshya Sen, who crashed out in the round of 16 against Viditsarin itself, dropped a spot to World No. 12, while Kidambi Srikanth remained at 20 after a first-round exit at the Worlds.
PV Sindhu rises a spot to No. 14; Nehwal drops out of top 50
PV Sindhu, who has been battling injuries and form in recent months, rose a spot to be World No. 14. Sindhu crashed out of the Worlds in the first round itself but will look to make a comeback in the top 10 soon. Former World No. 1 Saina Nehwal has dropped out of the top 50 for the first time in her career. Nehwal dropped 13 places to No. 51 as she has not played since her round of 32 loss against Ratchanok Intanon in the Singapore Open in June.
The team of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty lost a few points in the men's doubles but is still at second place despite an unexpected exit from the quarterfinals. Dhruv Kapila and MR Arjun dropped seven spots to World No. 34 at this time. Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand, a women's doubles team, have largely disappointed, but they have managed to move up two spots and are now at World No. 17.
