Saina drops to World No.8

New Delhi: The quarterfinal exit at the All England Open Badminton Championships last week has led India`s leading shuttler Saina Nehwal dropping a place to No.8 in the latest Badminton World Federation (BWF) women`s singles rankings released Thursday.

Saina is now only a spot ahead of World No.9 P.V. Sindhu, who despite her first round exit last week, still retained the position. Meanwhile, Kidambi Srikanth is now India`s highest ranked men`s singles shuttler at No.20 as Parupalli Kashyap dropped seven places to No.25. Kashyap`s shoulder injury has resulted in a recent dip of form, leading to his exit in the early rounds of several competitions since December. Mumbai`s Ajay Jayaram, however, gained a place to No.24 and is ranked just above Kashyap. This is the first time since the 2012 London Olympics that Kashyap is not ranked as India`s top male shuttler and has fallen behind Jayaram. No Indian figures in the top-25 of the doubles - men`s, women`s and mixed.