Saina retains third place in world rankings

London Olympics bronze medallist Saina Nehwal retained third place in the latest world badminton rankings, announced on Friday.

The Indian ace won the Denmark Open Super Series Premier title last month before losing to Japan's Minatsu Mitani recently in the final of the French Open Super Series.

P V Sindhu, another rising star from Hyderabad, retained 25th position in the Badminton World Federation's rankings.

Among the men, London Olympics quarter-finalist Parupalli Kashyap held on to 23rd place while Mumbai's Ajay Jayaram also remained static at 27th.

However, Madhya Pradesh's Sourabh Verma dropped a place to 33.

In the men's doubles, Kerala shuttlers K T Rupesh Kumar and Sanave Thomas rose a rung, to 27th.

In women's doubles, Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponnappa are ranked 21st while in mixed doubles, Gutta is 19th with V Diju.