Aparna slips to 52nd place

NEW DELHI, APRIL 20. With just 10 days left for finalising the entries for the Sydney Olympics, Aparna Popat has slipped one more place, to be 52nd, in the International Badminton Federation's rankings.

The worst-ranked Olympic qualifier, as per the April 20 rankings (other than through a continental quota), remains England's Julia Mann, who has improved her position by a rung from her previous week's 35th slot.

Unfortunately for Aparna, Peru's Adrienn Kocsis is ahead of her, at 51st place, and that means a total of seven players will gain precedence over the Indian champion should there be vacancies above.

Contrary to expectations, there would be several vacant places in the total field for Olympics badminton since around 20 players or more are likely to be common when the 29 entries each in singles and 19 pairs each in the three doubles events are finalised on April 30. The IBF will then re-allocate the quotas, as per the rankings, to complete the field of 172 players. Such a scenario should have helped Aparna had the fall been lesser than what it has been during the past three weeks, following the IBF's three- month ban on her. Now, with seven players ahead of her to fill in any possible vacancy and the situation unlikely to improve in the coming week, her chances look very slim.

In the men's singles rankings, P. Gopi Chand has climbed a rung to be 31st in this week's rankings. He continues to be on course for an Olympic berth.

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Section  : Sport
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