Saina static at 4, Sourabh jumps to 173

Saina Nehwal held on to her fourth spot in the world badminton rankings while Sourabh Verma jumped 45 places to 173 in the men`s singles.

New Delhi: Notwithstanding her first round exit at the Indian Open Super Series, Saina Nehwal held on to her fourth spot in the world badminton rankings while Sourabh Verma, who made the quarter-final grade, jumped 45 places to 173 in the men`s singles.

Saina was given the top billing at her home Super Series event but made a shock first round exit. Aditi Mutatkar is the next best Indian player in the women`s singles at 78, a gain of four positions. Sourabh had stunned Athens Olympics bronze medallist Sony Dwi Kuncoro of Indonesia and world number 25 Kenichi Tago of Japan en route to the last-eight stage and reaped riock reward for his outstanding show. P Kasyhap continues to be India`s best placed player in the men`s singles at number 26 followed by Ajay Jayram (33) Anand Pawar (42), Arvind Bhat (46) and Guru Sai Dutt (54). Anup Sridhar (106) moved closer to top-100 with a jump of 16 places while Chetan Anand slid 23 spots to be at 90. In women`s doubles, Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponnappa slipped to 26, loss of six position, as a result of their second round exit from the Indian Open.In the mixed doubles, Gutta and V Diju, who skipped the home tournament due to latter`s injury, are now placed 33rd. PTI