Saina-Srikanth need Denmark Open victories to keep qualifying hopes alive for season finale

India’s top badminton players Saina Nehwal and Kidambi Srikanth have entered semi-finals of the ongoing Denmark Open in Odense. The champion shuttlers registered hard-fought victories over there respective opponents in the quarterfinals. In the ongoing season, this is the best performance for both the players as both are having an average season in 2018. The same reflects in the HSBC World Tour Rankings of the players.

The World Tour Rankings is of great significance for the players as only top-8 in the world tour rankings will qualify for the season-finale at Guangzhou.

Men Singles

1) Chou Tien (Chinese Taipei)

2) Tommy Sugiarto (Indonesia)

3) Kantaphon Wang (Thailand)

4) Anthony Ginting   (Indonesia)

5) Shi Yuqi             (China)

6) Kento Momota   (Japan)

7) Suppanyu Avinhgsanon (Thailand)

8) Lin Dan (China)

Women Singles

1) Tai Tzu Ying (Chinese Taipei)

2) Akane Yamaguchi (Japan)

3) Nozomi Okhuara (Japan)

4) Carolina Marin (Spain)

5) PV Sindhu    (India)

6) Chen Yufei   (China)

7) Ratchanok Intanon (Thailand)

8) Sayaka Takahashi (Japan)

Srikanth at this stage is ranked as 28th in the World Tour Rankings and Nehwal is placed at 27th position. With very few events left in the season, nothing less than lifting the trophy at the Denmark Open will push them up the ladder in the World Tour Rankings. Victory in the event can bring both the players within striking distance of qualification for the season finale.

Sameer Verma who lost the quarter-final match to Srikanth on Friday night is surprisingly the highest ranked Indian men in the HSBC World Tour Rankings at number 9. In the women rankings, PV-Sindhu is safely placed at number 5 in the list and all set to qualify for the season-ender.

Meanwhile, Srikanth will meet second-seeded Japanese and world No 1 Kento Momota, who got the better of Thailand’s Khosit Phetpradab 21-13, 21-9 in another quarter-final. Momota is in form of his life and is sitting pretty at the top of the BWF Rankings.

On the other end, Saina will take on Indonesia’s Gregoria Mariska Tunjung, who overcame Denmark’s Line Hojmark Kjærsfeldt 20-22, 21-19, 21-13 in another quarter-final.

Also Read: Srikanth Kidambi poised for BWF No. 1 ranking

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