Satwik, Chirag lose No.1 ranking; slip to third in latest BWF list
New Delhi, Jun 11: Premier Indian doubles pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty, who pulled out of their title defence at Indonesia Open last week, slipped two rungs to third in the latest Badminton World Federation rankings on Tuesday.
China's Liang Wei Keng and Wang Chang are the new men's doubles No.1s followed by Denmark's Kim Astrup and Anders Skaarup Rasmussen, who jumped two places.
The Chirag-Satwik pair won the Thailand Open in May to reclaim the No.1 ranking but suffered loss of form and made a first-round exit from the Singapore Open last month.
The Indians have also pulled out of the ongoing Australian Open.
In men's singles, HS Prannoy and Lakshya Sen remained inside top-15, maintaining their 10th and 14th positions respectively.
Kidambi Srikanth dropped four places to be No 32, while Priyanshu Rajawat (No 34) and Kiran George (No 35, up by one place) were the next best Indians.
Two-time Olympic medallist PV Sindhu remained static at No 10 in the women's singles rankings.
In women's doubles, Paris Olympics-bound pair Tanisha Crasto and Ashwini Ponnappa improved one place to 19th.
Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand also climbed one notch to 24th.
The Commonwealth Games bronze-medallist pair had made a last-16 exit from the Indonesia Open.
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Protests over rising prices spread across Iran as students join demonstrations
Tehran: Protests triggered by Iran’s worsening economic conditions spread to universities and commercial centres on Tuesday. Students joined shopkeepers and traders in demonstrations against soaring prices and the sharp fall of the national currency, according to semi-official media reports.
The unrest comes as the Iranian rial hit a record low, sliding to around 1.4 million against the US dollar on the open market, according to a Reuters. The currency has lost nearly half its value this year, while inflation reached 42.5 per cent in December, official data showed.
Semi-official Fars News Agency reported that hundreds of students staged protests at four universities in Tehran. Footage verified by Reuters showed groups of demonstrators marching through streets in the capital, chanting slogans, while state television broadcast images of gatherings in central areas of the city.
President Masoud Pezeshkian said late on Monday that he had instructed the interior minister to engage with protesters and listen to what he described as their legitimate demands. Government spokesperson Fatemeh Mohajerani said authorities would set up a dialogue mechanism that could include talks with protest leaders.
“We officially recognise the protests. We hear the voices of the people and understand that these demonstrations stem from pressure on livelihoods,” Mohajerani said in remarks carried by state media.
On social media platforms, several Iranians expressed support for the protests, warning that public anger over rising prices, corruption and economic inequality could spread further across the country.
Iran’s economy has been under strain for years following the reimposition of US sanctions in 2018 after Washington withdrew from the international nuclear agreement. United Nations sanctions were reinstated in September, and Reuters reported in October that senior officials had held multiple meetings to discuss ways to prevent economic collapse and manage public discontent.
President Pezeshkian, speaking at a meeting with trade unions and market representatives on Tuesday, said the government would make efforts to address economic grievances and ease concerns faced by workers and traders, according to state media.
On Monday, Iran’s central bank chief resigned, with local media linking the move to pressure on the currency market following recent economic liberalisation policies.
