Indian badminton ace PV Sindhu has dropped to her worst career ranking in over a decade in the BWF women's singles world rankings. The 28-year-old is now ranked 15th in the latest rankings released by the Badminton World Federation (BWF).
Starting the 2023 season in seventh place, Sindhu dropped out of the top 10 in April, and in the latest rankings she has dropped to 15th place.
Sindhu, the only Indian to become the badminton world champion and the first Indian to reach an Olympic final, reached a career-high ranking of No. 2 in 2017, but has since struggled to retain that ranking.
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Why is PV Sindhu falling down the rankings chart?
After returning from a protracted injury layoff, Sindhu, who won the gold medal at the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, has struggled with her form this season.
This year, Sindhu made a comeback and competed in the Malaysian Open and Indian Open, but she lost in the first round of both competitions.
With the exception of the Madrid Masters, where she reached the final, and the Malaysia Masters, where she finished in the top four, Sindhu hasn't progressed past the second round in any of the other seven BWF World Tour competitions she's participated in so far this year.
Rankings of other Indian badminton players
Saina Nehwal, also an Olympic medalist, remained unchanged at the 30th spot in the women's singles, followed by Aakarshi Kashyap (42), Ashmita Chaliha (44) and Malvika Bansod (46).
India's top men's singles player, HS Prannoy, who won his first BWF World Tour championship at the Malaysia Masters in May, continues to sit in 7th place in the world. Kidambi Srikanth, a former world No. 1, is presently placed 20th, just behind Lakshya Sen.
Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty continue to be ranked No. 3 in the men's doubles category, but Gayatri Gopichand and Treesa Jolly drop to No. 17 in the women's doubles category.
The highest-ranked Indian mixed doubles team is N Sikki Reddy and Rohan Kapoor, who are rated 33rd in the world.
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What next for PV Sindhu?
Sindhu will hope to get back to her best in the ongoing Canada Open, which is being held at the Markin-MacPhail Centre in Calgary, Canada between July 4 to July 9.
She is set to face Talia NG in the Women's Singles Round of 32 tonight.