Saina officially takes top spot, Prannoy moves to 14th spot

Kula Lumpur, April 2:

Saina Nehwal on Thursday officially took the top spot in the Badminton World Federation (BWF) rankings for women’s singles.

Olympic bronze medallist Saina, who was assured of the top spot during the India Open, which she won while reigning World champion Carolina Marin faltered in the semi-finals, now has 78,541 points.

“Officially world number 1 today in the BWF rankings very very very very very very happy thank u all for the support,” an elated Saina wrote on Twitter.

Spaniard Carolina acquired the second spot with 73,618 points.

Reigning Olympic champion Xuerui of China dropped to third, while India’s young shuttler P.V. Sindhu remained ninth.

In another good news for Indian badminton, H.S. Prannoy jumped three places to be 14th in the men’s singles category.

However, it was disappointing for Parupalli Kashyap as he dropped four places to the 17th.

All the players are currently competing at the Malaysia Open Superseries Premier here. IANS