Ace Indian shuttler Kidambi Srikanth is World No. 1 now
In 2015, Nehwal had made India proud by becoming the world number 1 player.
SNS | April 12, 2018 12:19 pm
Indian badminton sensation Kidambi Srikanth grabbed the title of World No. 1 player on Thursday.
On 12 April, the Badminton World Federation (BWF) released its weekly rankings and the 25-year-old star shuttler Srikanth has now won the title of World Number 1. He had secured the No. 2 rank on November 2, 2017.
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Srikanth enjoyed a fabulous run so far at the 21 Commonwealth games and led from the front when India won gold on Monday in the mixed-badminton event. He secured the top rank with 76,895 points.
Viktor Axelsen, who was world No.1 till now, had 77130 points. He lost 1660 points because he won’t be able to defend the Malaysian Open title which he won last year. The last Malaysian Open took place between April 4 and 9 in 2017. The event stands postponed this year.
Interestingly, Srikanth could have become the table topper last year, but he couldn’t achieve the feat because of an injury. He wasn’t able to participate in the year-end tournaments because of injuries.
In the year 2017, Srikanth had won four Super Series titles – Indonesia, Australia, Denmark, France. He had become the fourth player in the world to achieve this feat.
In 2015, Saina Nehwal had made India proud by becoming the world number 1 player.
The Indian combination, making a comeback of sorts on the BWF circuit following an injury to Satwik, made a strong start against the Malaysian but struggled to counter the game plan of their opponent at the back end of both games and lost 21-18, 21-14 in 37 minutes.
But there were some setbacks too as youngster Akarshi Kashyap, experienced women's doubles pair Ashwini Ponnappa and Tanisha Crasto, World No. 38 pair Rutaparna Panda and Swetaparna Panda and Anupama Upadhyaya lost their first-round matches in the event.
Indian shuttlers have won a total of five titles in the 2024 BWF World Tour. Of the five titles,one each are in men's and women's singles, two in men's doubles, and one in women's doubles.