BWF rankings: Srikanth announced as the new world number 1
India's badminton sensation Kidambi Srikanth became the new world number 1 on Thursday. The shuttler replaced Denmark's Viktor Axelsen as the top player in the Badminton World Federation rankings. As reported earlier, Axelsen lost 1,660 points that allowed the Indian to topple him as the new player atop. Srikanth tops the summit with 76,895 points.
Congratulations @srikidambi on becoming World No. 1 in latest BWF rankings, only the second Indian Badminton player to achieve the feat in modern ranking era. Proud moment for Indian sports. pic.twitter.com/E7ZZASW8vz
— Virender Sehwag (@virendersehwag) April 12, 2018
Kidambi Srikanth won four Super Series honours in 2017. The in-form player clinched the Australia, Denmark, Indonesia and France Super Series titles. He had secured the number two rank last year in November.
Srikanth's journey to the top is one of the biggest success stories in the world of badminton and gives hopes to many others. He becomes the first Indian male player to achieve this feat in the modern ranking era. In women's badminton, Saina Nehwal had become world number 1 in March, 2015 and is the only other Indian player to reach the summit.
The credit for Srikanth's dominance must be given to coach Pullela Gopichand, who guided his rise in the world of badminton. Gopichand was also responsible for Saina's rise to the summit in 2015. He stated from Australia that this will help Srikanth further.
