Kidambi Srikanth jumps 4 places in BWF rankings after silver medal at World Championships

Indian badminton ace Kidambi Srikanth's dream run in the BWF World Championships 2021 ended after he lost 21-15, 22-20 to Singapore's Loh Kean Yew in the finals. The 28-year old became the first Indian to reach the final after he defeated fellow countryman Lakshya Sen in the semifinals, as Sen picked up a bronze medal. And on Wednesday, Srikanth jumped four spots in BWF's world rankings as he entered the top 10 men's singles players.

After winning the silver medal, Srikanth became only the fourth ever Indian to win a medal at the BWF World Championships after Sen (2021), HS Prannoy (2019) and Prakash Padukone (1983). He also become the World No. 10 according to the BWF rankings, jumping four spots after his fantastic performances that got him to the final. While the former world number one had a fantastic run in the event's final, in an exclusive conversation with Republic TV, he said that he was delighted and proud of his performance despite the loss.

On being asked how it felt to win a silver medal, Kidambi Srikanth said, " World Championships is such a big event. It is always good to win any medal, and I am just very happy with the silver medal." The 28-year old then went on to deny making any complaints regarding the COVID protocols of the event, stating that it is the same for every player and that they needed to follow them to 'make the tournaments happen.' He was then asked to reflect on his historic performances at the BWF World Championships and his response was that while he missed many chances in the final and could not finish the way he would have liked, he said that he did well throughout the tournament and that he is happy with his performance.

BWF Rankings

*The rankings were last updated on Monday, December 20, 2021.

Image: PTI