Sindhu breaks into top 5

Hyderabad Feb 17 : Rio Olympic silver medallist PV Sindhu broke into top five in world badminton rankings for the first time in her career, according to the latest rankings released on Thursday. Sindhu, who recently won the Syed Modi Grand Prix tournament in Lucknow, jumped one place from six to five.The Indian star is behind Tai Tzu Ying (Chinese Taipei), Carolina Marin (Spain), Sung Ji Hyun (Korea) and Sun Yu (China).

“It is always good to be in the top five. For the first time I have broken into top five. It is a good feeling before a big tournament like All England Championship,’’ she said.Sindhu hovered around nine and ten places before she jumped to sixth in the last week’s rankings. However, London Olympic bronze medallist Saina Nehwal is at ninth place.In the men’s rankings, Ajay Jayaram is in the 19th place while Kidambi Srikanth, who is recovering from an injury, and HS Prannoy are in the 21st and 23rd places respectively.Manu Attri and Sumeeth Reddy are ranked 24th in men’s doubles. However, there is good news in the mixed doubles as the rising Indian pair of Sikki Reddy and Pranaav Jerry Chopra are in the 14th place.