New Delhi: Early exits at Japan Open and Denmark Open proved costly for ace India shuttler Saina Nehwal as she on Thursday lost her World No1 crown to All England and World champion Carolina Marin of Spain.
In the latest Badminton World Federation (BWF) ranking list released, Saina dropped to No 2 spot in women's singles with 81782 points, 1630 points behind Marin, who reached the semifinals at Odense last week.
After her World Championship final loss to Marin, Saina made second round exits in the next two tournaments – Japan and Denmark -- following her straight game defeats against Japan's Minatsu Mitani.
(Photo: Screengrab taken from the official website of Badminton World Federation)
Two-time World Championship bronze medallist PV Sindhu, who reached her maiden Super Series final at Denmark Open, remained static at World No 13.
In men's singles, Kidambi Srikanth, Parupalli Kashyap and HS Prannoy slipped down the rankings chart while Srikanth lost a spot to be sixth, Commonwealth Games champion Kashyap slumped to No 10 from No 8.
Indonesia Masters winner Prannoy, who defeated two-time Olympic and five-time World Champion Lin Dan of China in the first round of French Open in Paris on Wednesday, lost a position to be No 17 but Ajay Jayaram climbed a place to be ranked World No 25.
In men's doubles, Manu Attri and B Sumeeth Reddy, who reached the finals of Dutch Open Grand Prix, rose to No 19, while Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponnappa slipped a place to be at No 13 in women's doubles.
