Saina Nehwal likely to regain top spot soon

Mumbai: Indian badminton ace Saina Nehwal’s ascent to the top of the women’s badminton rankings was short-lived following her semifinal defeat against China’s Olympic champion Li Xuerui in the USD 500,000 Malaysia Open Super Series Premier badminton tournament on Saturday.

But don’t lose hope as Saina can quickly become the World No 1 again and that too in a week’s time. Wondering how? The badminton rankings released by the World Badminton Federation on Thursday won’t feature Saina on the top, thus ending her oh-so-brief stay. Here comes some good news for the Hyderabad-based Saina. Two other claimants, Li Xuerui and Carolina Marin to the throne of the women’s badminton are not travelling to Singapore for the Super Series event next week.

Li Xuerui returns a shot to Saina Nehwal during their women's singles semifinal match at the Malaysia Open badminton tournament in Kuala Lumpur. (Photo: AP)

Both these players have not entered the Singapore Open. Last minute changes in plans are not permitted by the BWF. As per the regulations, entries for any Super Series “close five weeks before the first day of play. Entries will not be accepted after that date under any circumstances.”

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In such a scenario, the only occasion where Li and Marin can earn ranking points then, is when they take on each other in a repeat of last year’s World Championships final on Sunday. If the results are the same as was at Copenhagen’s Ballerup Super Arena in August, the Spaniard will only climb to 79,578 points, well short of Saina’s 80,191.

Saina Nehwal kisses her Gold Medal after winning the final match of Yonex Sunrise India Open 2015 in New Delhi. (Photo: AP)

A win for Li, who according to stats, stands a good chance of overpowering Marin given that she leads 3-1 in their head-to-head record, will see the new world No 1 go to 82,414. Next week, though, Li will drop to 74,614 as she will lose 7,800 from last year’s runner-up finish at the Singapore Open.

BWF women single's rankings last updated on April 2. (Photo: Screengrab)

But the 2,200 points she earned last year doesn't count towards her world ranking. With no one else within 9,200 points, which is how much the winner of the Singapore Open will earn, and the only other event next week belongs to a much lower tier (an International Series tournament in Croatia), the crown will be handed back to Saina on a platter next week even if she doesn’t show up in Singapore.

Cheer up Indian fans, it’s not long before Saina regains top spot and continues to script history in the making.