Kidambi Srikanth becomes world No.1

Indian badminton ace Kidambi Srikanth became world No. 1 on Thursday. In the latest rankings released by the BWF, Srikanth finds himself atop the table with 76895 points, ahead of Viktor Axelsen.

Srikanth Kidambi in action at the 2018 Commonwealth Games.

Indian badminton ace Kidambi Srikanth became world No. 1 on Thursday. In the latest rankings released by the BWF, Srikanth finds himself atop the table with 76895 points, ahead of Viktor Axelsen. In the women's category, P. V. Sindhu is ranked third.

It was also a good day for both Srikanth and Sindhu as they, along with Ruthvika Gadde and H.S.Prannoy, sailed into the quarter-finals of women's and men's singles at the Commonwealth Games.

“I'm definitely delighted to have achieved the World No. 1 ranking for the first time, and to become the first Indian man after Prakash (Padukone) sir to achieve this. It's a testament to the hard work of Gopi (Gopi Chand) sir, my family, my other coaches and support staff, my team GoSports Foundation, my sponsors, and everyone else who has believed in me over the years,” Srikanth said.

“It’s been a great year, but I have many more goals, and right now, my focus is on coming good at the big events and achieving many more milestones. The Commonwealth Games is on, and this year also holds the Asian Games. My target is also to do my country proud at the Tokyo Olympics in two years' time. I thank everyone for believing in me, and hope to inspire many other Indians to keep striving in their pursuit of excellence," the shuttler added.