Kuala Lumpur: Lee Chong Wei who had recently slumped to No. 180 in Badminton World Federation (BWF) rankings last week, made a big leap in this week’s BWF rankings released on Thursday, climbing 81 positions to world No. 99.
Lee received 7,000 ranking points following his triumph at the US Open last week, which saw the Malaysian returned to the top 100 of the BWF rankings.
If Lee Chong Wei could win back-to-back titles at the Canadian Grand Prix this week, he would earn another 5,500 ranking points and would enjoy a steady climb up in the world rankings.
Other Malaysian men’s singles shuttlers that were ranked ahead of Lee were Zulfadli Zulkiffli at No. 40, Chong Wei Feng at No. 41, Mohamad Arif Abdul Latif at No. 65, Tan Chun Seang at No. 78, Goh Soon Huat at No. 85, Daren Liew at No. 92, and Soo Teck Zhi at No. 93.
Chen Long continued to lead an unchanged top 5 in the latest men’s singles world badminton rankings, with Jan O Jorgensen of Denmark at No. 2, followed by Kidambi Srikanth of India at No. 3, Kento Momota of Japan at NO. 4, and Lin Dan of China at No. 5.
In women’s singles, Carolina Marin of Spain remained the top shuttler in women’s singles category. Saina Nehwal, Ratchanok Intanon, Li Xuerui, Tai Tzu Ying retained their spots respectively as world No. 2, 3, 4, and 5 in the BWF rankings. Lyddia Cheah became the highest ranked women’s singles player from Malaysia at No. 58, followed closely Tee Jing Yi at No. 61.
There was no movement in the top thirteen of men’s doubles rankings. Malaysia’s Goh V Shem/Tan Wee Kiong dropped one spot to No. 18, while former world No. 1 pair Tan Boon Heong/Koo Kien Keat was ranked No. 93.
Misaki Matsutomo/Ayaka Takahashi of Japan, Wang Xiaoli/Yu Yang of China, Luo Ying/Luo Yu of China, Kamilla Rytter Juhl/Christinna Pedersen of Denmark, and Nitya Krishinda Maheswari/Greysia Polii of Indonesia were ranked top five in women’s doubles. Vivian Hoo/ Woon Khe Wei of Malaysia stayed at No. 12; while SEA Games women’s doubles winners, Amelia Alicia Anscelly/Soong Fie Cho dropped a place to No. 24.
As for the mixed doubles rankings, Chinese pairs took three spots in the world’s top five rankings, with Zhang Nan/Zhao Yunlei, Xu Chen/Ma Jin, Liu Cheng/Bao Yixin at No. 1, No.2, and No. 4 respectively. Tontowi Ahmad/Liliyana Natsir of Indonesia were ranked No. 3, while Joachim Fischer Nielsen/Christinna Pedersen of Denmark were ranked No. 5. Malaysia’s Tan Aik Quan/Lai Pei Jing maintained their No. 41 rank, while SEA Games silver medalists Chan Peng Soon/Goh Liu Ying moved up one spot to No. 47.
