Crasto-Kapila reach career-best badminton rankings; Treesa-Gayatri stay in top 10

New Delhi, April 15 (IANS) India’s mixed doubles pair of Tanisha Crasto and Dhruv Kapila achieved a significant career milestone, climbing to a career-best world No. 17 in the latest Badminton World Federation (BWF) rankings released on Tuesday.

The surge comes on the back of their impressive quarter-final finish at the 2025 Badminton Asia Championships, making them the most successful Indian pair at the tournament where the country, for a second consecutive year, returned without a medal.

Crasto and Kapila, who improved their ranking by one spot, now boast 46,229 points from 13 tournaments and are steadily emerging as a reliable force in India’s doubles landscape.

However, the injury-hit duo of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty, who missed the continental championship, dropped to world No. 11 in men’s doubles. Similarly, Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand also slipped by one place to world No. 10 in women’s doubles. Despite this, the Treesa-Gayatri pair remains the only top 10 ranked Indian shuttlers across all categories.

With no Indian representation in the singles top 10, this marks a rare phase in Indian badminton where the three highest-ranked players are all from doubles disciplines. In singles, Lakshya Sen and PV Sindhu are the top-ranked Indian players, both placed 18th in men’s and women’s rankings respectively. Sen’s early exit from the Badminton Asia Championships cost him two spots, while Sindhu dropped one despite reaching the second round.

HS Prannoy, a key member of India’s historic Thomas Cup victory in 2022, slipped to world No. 30. On a positive note, Priyanshu Rajawat and Kiran George gained ground in the men’s singles chart. Rajawat climbed to 36th with a two-place jump, while Kiran George moved up to 35th after consistent performances.

--IANS

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