Srikanth's Malaysia run shows he belongs at the top
Commonwealth Games champion Lakshya Sen continued to be the best-placed Indian at number seven while former world no. 1 Kidambi Srikanth gained a rung to the 11th position.
"She will need to be at her best for next year which will have Asian Games and also the 2024 Paris Olympics qualification, playing about 22 tournaments will be tough, so she is taking extra care,"
India beat England 3-2 in inconsequential tie of Sudirman Cup
Shetty, the lone surviving Indian in the tournament, will next face the winner of the other quarter-final between Chinese Taipei's Chia Hao Lee and second seed Chun-Yi Lin.
HS Prannoy, who occupies the 8th spot, is the best ranked Indian in the men's singles while Lakshya Sen and Kidambi Srikanth are placed 19th and 20th respectively.
The 21-year-old Sen, who won a bronze in the 2021 World Championships, has been in brilliant form, starting the year with a gold medal at the Yonex-Sunrise India Open before finishing runner-up, at the prestigious All England Open Championships and also at the German Open.
The former world number one said she tried contacting the BWF, but got no response from the badminton world body.
Danish badminton player Mia Blichfeldt has criticized the playing conditions at the India Open Super 750 tournament in New Delhi, citing pollution, dirt and bird droppings. She also said she contracted a stomach infection during the event, which she attributed to the poor conditions. The Badminton Association of India (BAI) has acknowledged logistical challenges in hosting the event and is looking for alternative venues. This isn't the first time foreign players have raised concerns about playing conditions at badminton events in India.
India's badminton great Prakash Padukone will receive the prestigious Lifetime Achievement Award this year from the Badminton World Federation (BWF).
Fellow Indian Kidambi Srikanth also jumped two places to sit at the 12th spot, while Lakshya Sen continued to be the best-placed Indian male shuttler at world number 9.
No Indians featured in the women's doubles and mixed doubles rankings.
India's lack of bench strength was exposed as they suffered a crushing 1-4 defeat against Denmark in their opening Group D match at the BWF Sudirman Cup Finals.
Srikanth needed only 42 minutes to get the better of the 20-year-old Jason Gunawan from Hong Kong 21-19, 21-15 in his round of 16 contest.
Sudirman Cup: India bow out after defeat against Indonesia
London Olympics bronze medallist Saina Nehwal, on the other hand, moved one place to 31st.
Treesa and Gayatri, seeded fourth, will be the lone Indian challenge left in women's doubles in Basel after Priya Konjengbam-Shruti Mishra and Varshini Viswanath Sri-Arathi Sara Sunil lost their opening-round matches.
The BWF also shared its Standard Operation Procedure with member associations, saying any breach "can result in accreditation being revoked and participants not permitted to enter the venue."
The former world junior number one thus joined fellow Indians Aparna Popat (1996), Saina Nehwal (2006) and Siril Verma (2015) in winning a silver medal at the prestigious tournament.
Shuttlers in the singles competition have to be inside top-16 of world rankings to qualify for the Olympics. The cut-off for doubles is also top-16.
The apex body also advised "teams and participants entering tournaments during the European and Asian legs" to "not return to their home countries as many would then have to undergo a 14-day quarantine period upon their return."
Star Indian shuttlers PV Sindhu and Lakshya Sen will spearhead a strong contingent at the USD 250,000 Swiss Open, beginning on Tuesday, aiming to regain top form.
Bhagat now has 11 medals, including six gold, two silver and three bronze medals in the world championships. He has the distinction of reaching the finals in all the editions, barring the 2007 and 2017 World Championships.
Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty advanced to the semifinals of the Malaysia Open
Among other Indians in men's singles, S Sankar Muthusamy Subramanian defeated Malaysia's June Wei Cheam 15-21, 21-15, 21-19 in a tough three-game contest. He will next be up against Indonesia's Chico Aura Dwi Wardoyo.
The duo is aiming for top-30 ranking and continued success in bigger tournaments.
In May, the BWF had unveiled a revised international calendar to salvage the remainder of the season. However, with the global health crisis showing no signs of abating, many events were cancelled from the reworked calendar.
In the men's doubles however, the Indian pair of MR Arjun and Dhruv Kapila lost to 11th seeded Russian pair of Vladimir Ivanov and Ivan Sozonov 11-21, 16-21 in a second round match that lasted 41 minutes.
Australia's winter sports community has been forced back into mourning with the sudden death of 20-year-old Olympic figure skater Ekaterina Alexandrovskaya in Moscow.
BWF, in a statement, said that only those athletes eligible for the originally scheduled championships are allowed to enter.
Both Super 100 tournaments have now been removed from the BWF's revamped calendar.
It was yet another forgettable outing in Tokyo for Praneeth, following his struggles at last year's Olympic Games where he participated without a proper coach or physio to eventually bow out early.
India's Lakshya Sen came up with a spirited performance to overcome Hong Kong China's Angus Ng Ka Long in three games
The BWF said that it was also looking at options to host its annual general meeting and members' forum which were due to take place in Aarhus in August.
Earlier in the day, the mixed doubles pair of Dhruv Kapila and Tanshia Crasto squandered an early lead to go down 21-18, 15-21, 19-21 against Malaysia's Pang Ron Hoo and Su Yin Cheng in the second round.
Despite the name, Indian success at the tournament hasn't been particularly regular with none from the host nation winning any title in the past two editions.
While India have never won the gold at the Asia Mixed Team Championships, they did secure mixed team gold and silver at the Commonwealth Games in 2018 and 2022.
Indian shuttler Kiran George's impressive run at the Korea Masters came to an end with a semifinal loss to Thailand's Kunlavut Vitidsarn
Summary of sports events and persons who made news on Wednesday
The world No. 3 Indian pair was scheduled to meet the German duo of Mark Lamsfuss and Marvin Seidel on Monday in what was supposed to be their second Group C match, but it was cancelled following the withdrawal of Lamsfuss due to injury.
