London Olympics bronze medallist Saina Nehwal, on the other hand, moved one place to 31st.
India's double Olympic medallist P V Sindhu cruised into the quarterfinals of the French Open badminton tournament with a straight-game win over Line Christophersen of Denmark in the women's singles second round in Paris. Sindhu, seeded third, prevailed 21-19, 21-9 over Christophersen, ranked 24th in the world, in 37 minutes late Thursday night.
No Indians featured in the women's doubles and mixed doubles rankings.
India's double Olympics medallist P V Sindhu continued her impressive run at the French Open badminton tournament, sailing into the women's singles semi-finals with a straight-game win over Thailand's Busanan Ongbamrungphan, in Paris, on Friday. Sindhu, seeded third, scripted a convincing 21-14, 21-14 win over eighth seeded in 38 minutes to extend her head-to-head record against the Thai to 14-1.
London Games bronze medallist Saina, who had retired midway through her first match at Uber Cup Final due to a groin injury, couldn't match Japan's world no 20 Aya Ohori and lost 21-16, 21-14 in the opening round.
HS Prannoy becomes the first player to beat Tokyo Olympics gold medallist Victor Axelsen in full a match since March.
India's top shuttlers P V Sindhu and Kidambi Srikanth registered straight-game victories to make impressive starts to their singles campaigns at the season-ending BWF World Tour Finals in Bali on Wednesday.
Expectations from the Indian male shuttlers will also be high, given their exploits in recent months.
Slipping out of the usual top-five was seen as a real possibility in absence of shooting but phenomenal success in athletics and lawn bowls propelled India to a commendable fourth place finish at the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham
Lakshya Sen recorded another comfortable win but double Olympic medallist P V Sindhu and Kidambi Srikanth had to work hard to enter the semi-finals
Three-time champion Saina Nehwal registered a 21-18, 21-15 win against PV Sindhu, a two-time winner, in the summit clash.
Satwik and Ashwini, who reached the semi-finals at Toyota Thailand Open Super 1000 in January, will meet the winner of the match between fifth-seeded Malaysians Tan Kian Meng and Lai Pei Jing and Germany's Jones Ralfy Jansen and Kilasu Ostermeyer.
Padukone attributed Sindhu and Saina's success to their physical abilities.
Defending champion PV Sindhu suffered a straight-game defeat to Tai Tzu Ying while Srikanth assured himself of a medal.
Now all eyes are on the two Super 1000 events -- Yonex Thailand Open (January 12-17) and Toyota Thailand Open (January 19-24) as the world's best return to action following a prolonged break.
Indian contingent has an opportunity to go deep in the draw and recapture the trophy which has been won by just two Indians so far -- the legendary Prakash Padukone (1980) and P Gopichand (2001).
P V Sindhu will be eager to return to the podium as former winner Saina Nehwal looks to regain her touch
An important factor in India's stupendous success in 2021 was the way the government opened its coffers to support athletes.
Summary of sports events and persons who made news on Tuesday.
A summary of sports events and persons who made news on Thursday.
Summary of sports events and persons who made news on Friday.
A summary of sports events and persons who made news on Sunday
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