BADMINTON

India's star badminton player Kidambi Srikanth becomes world number one

Srikanth is the first Indian male player to achieve the feat

Srikanth is the first Indian male player to achieve the feat Kidambi Srikanth | PTI

Indian badminton player Kidambi Srikanth became world number one in the Badminton World Federation rankings on Thursday after toppling Denmark's Viktor Axelsen. Srikanth has 76,895 points in the men's singles category.

The 25-year-old star player becomes only the second Indian after Saina Nehwal, who achieved the feat in 2015, to top the rankings. Srikanth is the first Indian male to be world number one.

Srikanth had secured the world number two spot in November last year. He became the fourth badminton player ton win four super series—Indonesia, Denmark, France and Australia—in a year.

Coach Pullela Gopichand said that Srikanth's achievement is a huge boost for Indian badminton. Both Saina and Srikanth are coached under Gopichand. He added that now that Srikanth has achieved the goal of becoming world number one, it would help him focus more on winning tournaments.

Srikanth was part of the gold-medal winning mixed events team in the ongoing Commonwealth Games, and has progressed to the pre-quarterfinal round in the men's singles event.

Srikanth's breakthrough in Indian badminton happened when he won the Thailand Open in 2013.