Saina slips to 10th; Chetan and Arvind rise

New Delhi:

Ace shuttler Saina Nehwal's first round exit in the Asian Badminton Championship has pushed the Hyderabadi girl two places down the rung at 10, even as Chetan Anand climbed one spot in the latest ranking issued on Thursday.

Saina, who rose to the eighth spot riding on her quarterfinal appearance in the Indian Open recently, faltered in the first round of the Asian badminton Champion. The 20-year-old shuttler lost 21-14, 14-21, 12-21 against Jiang Yanjiao of China.

In contrast, Chetan, who also lost in the first round going down 13-21, 19-21 to lesser known Japanese Kozai Kazuteru, managed to rise one spot, while Arvind Bhat who decided to take a break to regain his complete fitness also gained a place to 27th spot.

Meanwhile, P Kashyap, who reached the quarterfinals of the Asian badminton Championship before losing to fourth seed Chinese Bao Chunlai ranked 35th, while Anand Pawar who was ousted in the second round figured at the 49th place.

However, Indian mixed doubles pair of Jwala Gutta and V Diju retained their number 10 spot in the latest ranking.