Industry Odisha Bureau, Oct 27: PV Sindhu has climbed back into the top eight of the BWF women’s singles rankings after finishing runner-up at the French Open Super 750 in Paris. The latest rankings, released on Tuesday, also marked a historic achievement for France. Notably, Christo Popov became the first French badminton player to reach world No. 1 in men’s singles.
Sindhu rose three places, marking her best ranking since January 2022. The Indian shuttler won the Japan Open in July to claim her maiden Super 750 title before reaching the French Open final. She lost to South Korea’s An Se Young 16-21, 21-11, 21-12 after taking the opening game.
Sindhu will next compete at the Hylo Open in Germany as the second seed. She is also targeting qualification for the BWF World Tour finals,scheduled in Hangzhou from December 9 to 13. Currently ninth in the qualification standings with 62,510 points, she trails Denmark’s Line Christophersen by just 40 points.
Fellow Indian Ashmita Chalhia climbed six places to a career best world ranking of No. 30, with Tanvi Sharma at No. 21 and Unnati Hooda at No. 22.
Meanwhile, in men’s singles, Popov secured the French Open title by defeating Indonesia;s Mohammad Zaki Ubaidillah 21-11, 14-21, 21-13. His victory ended France’s 80 year wait for a home men’s singles champion at the tournament.
Further, India’s Lakshya Sen remains the highest ranked Indian men’s singles player at No. 14. He is followed by Ayush Shetty at No. 19.
