Malaysian badminton legend Lee Chong Wei has consolidated his position at the top of the Badminton World Federation (BWF) rankings even after missing three consecutive Superseries tournaments due to injury in the ongoing season.
The Rio Olympic silver medallist, who dethroned reigning Olympic champion Chen Long in June 2016, sits pretty at the top with 86,103 points, nearly 10,000 clear of the second-placed Chinese shuttler.
On the other hand, two-time Olympic champion Lin Dan has slipped two spots to fifth after missing competitive action since his bronze medal match defeat against Viktor Axelsen at the Rio Games earlier this year. Chen, who finished as the runner-up at 2016 China Open last week, continues to be the highest-ranked male Chinese shuttler.
Jan O Jorgensen, who defeated Chen in Fuzhou to clinch the China Open title, has risen to the third spot overtaking compatriot Axelsen. China's Tian Houwei is closing in on his compatriot Super Dan with impressive showings in the recent past.
While South Korea's Son Wan Ho has slipped two places to seventh, Chou Tien Chen, Shi Yuqi and Tanongsak Saensomboonsuk have retained their places inside the top-ten rankings.
Meanwhile in the Women's singles category, Rio Olympic gold medallist Carolina Marin has retained the top spot while Thailand's Ratchanok Intanon is still the second-ranked woman shuttler. Taiwan's Tai Tzu Ying tails the top two after climbing two spots followed by Japan's Nozomi Okuhara at fourth.
Also, India's PV Sindhu, who clinched the Women's singles silver at the Rio Games, has become the top-ranked Indian shuttler after edging past compatriot Saina Nehwal, who has slipped below the top-ten for the first time since 2009.
While Sindhu added to her trophy cabinet with her maiden Superseries title at the China Open earlier this month, Saina is slowly getting back to her best after recovering from a knee injury that kept her out of action after the Rio Games.
Notably, the two shuttlers are in the quarter-final of the ongoing Hong Kong Open Superseries and could end up facing each other in the semi-final on Saturday.
BWF rankings
Top 10 - Men's Singles
Lee Chong Wei (Mas)
Chen Long (Chn)
Jan O Jorgensen (Den)
Viktor Axelsen (Den)
Lin Dan (Chn)
Tian Houwei (Chn)
Son Wan Ho (Kor)
Shi Yuqi (Chn)
Tanongsak Saensomboonsuk (Tha)
Top 10 - Women's singles
Carolina Marin (Esp)
Ratchanok Intanon (Tha)
Tai Tzu Ying (Tpe)
Nozomi Okuhara (Jpn)
Sung Ji Hyun (Kor)
Sun Yu (Chn)
LI Xuerui (Chn)
Akane Yamaguchi (Jpn)
PV Sindhu (Ind)
He Bingjiao (Chn)
For full list of BWF rankings, click here.
