Badminton Ranking: Saina climbs up to 5th, Sindhu 8th; Srikanth enters top 10

A quarter-final finish at Japan Open helped Rio Olympics quarter-finalist K Srikanth return to the top-10 in men's singles after he jumped five places to reach the World No 9 spot in the latest BWF World ranking.

In women's singles, both Saina Nehwal and P V Sindhu climbed up the ladder despite not playing in any recent tournaments.

Former No 1 Saina, who is recovering from a knee injury since undergoing a surgery after the Rio Games, surged three places to reach the World No 5 spot, while Rio Olympics silver medallist Sindhu also improved two places to earn number 8th position.

Meanwhile, Ajay Jayaram slipped nine places to be at the 27th spot in men's singles, while H S Prannoy and B Sai Praneeth were static at the 31st and 35th spots respectively. National champion Sameer Verma rose one spot to World No 40.

Jayaram loses in quarters of Korea Open

India's campaign ended at the Korea Open after Ajay Jayaram went down fighting against World No 20 Korean Lee Hyun II in the men's singles quarter-finals of the Super Series badminton event, in Seoul, on Friday.

Jayaram, who came into the match with a 0-2 head-to-head record against the Korean, lost 23-25, 13-21 in a 44-minute battle to bow out of the contest at the Seong-nam Indoor Stadium.

Jayaram, ranked 27th in the world, was 14-11 ahead at one stage but Lee caught up with a seven-point burst to turn the tables on the Indian. Lee reached the game points at 20-17 but Jayaram saved three game points and was in fact 23-22 up, but he could not finish it as the local shuttler held the bragging rights.

In the second game, Jayaram could not play his usual game as the Korean broke off at 4-4 and slowly moved ahead, even as the Indian crumbled.

Jayaram had lost to Lee at the Canada Open earlier this year.