Gopi Chand in 18th place

NEW DELHI, JUNE 9. India's P. Gopi Chand has moved up one place to 18th in the world badminton men's singles rankings. Gopi Chand, the four-time National champion, became the first Indian to break into the elite top-20 in the world, after the legendary Prakash Padukone in the 80s, last week.

This week's movement was mainly due to the changes in the tournaments taken into consideration for the rankings. The rankings are calculated by adding the points earned in team and individual competitions during a period of 12 months.

In the women's singles, National champion Aparna Popat, serving a three-month ban for a doping offence, also climbed up a place to 51st position. B.R. Meenakshi was 72nd with seasoned Manjusha Kanwar and Neelima Choudhary at 100 and 125 respectively.

Among the other Indian men, southpaw Nikhil Kanetkar also moved up two places to 51 while French Open champion Siddharth Jain slipped to 56 from last week's 54th in the latest rankings list issued by the International Badminton Federation.

Injured India No. 3 Abhinn Shyam Gupta was placed at 90. Denmark's Peter Gade Christensen maintained his top position, but last week's No. 2 Hendrawan slipped two places to fourth. Malaysia's Wong Chong Hann has taken second place with reigning Olympic champion Poul-Eric Hoyer-Larsen at third.

In the women's section, Denmark's Camilla Martin upstaged China's Gong Zhichao at the top with another Chinese, Dai Yun at third.

- PTI

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