KUALA LUMPUR: Shuttler Lee Zii Jia has returned to the world's top three after a 19-month absence.
Zii Jia, who will compete in the China Open next week, moved up one spot to third in the latest world rankings today.
Zii Jia last held a top-three position on Jan 18 last year, when he reached a career-best world No. 2.
Despite not competing since his first-round exit at the Japan Open two weeks ago, Zii Jia gained from Indonesian Jonatan Christie's drop from third to seventh. Jonatan's slip was due to losing points at last year's China Open (he lost in the semi-finals) in "Week 36'.
The Badminton World Federation (BWF) ranking system considers the 10 best results over a 52-week rolling period.
This week is "Week 37". Jonatan risks falling further unless he retains his Hong Kong Open title this week.
Three other players also benefited from Jonatan's decline as China's Li Shi Feng, Denmark's Anders Antonsen and Japan's Kodai Naraoka rose to fourth, fifth, and sixth respectively.
China's Shi Yu Qi remains the world No. 1 while two-time Olympic champion Viktor Axelsen holds the No. 2 spot. With substantial points on offer in Changzhou next week under BWF's revised world ranking system, Zii Jia could potentially narrow the gap to Axelsen.
Ng Tze Yong, inactive since February, slipped three spots to No. 25. However, with ranking protection in place, he can enter tournaments seamlessly upon return, with his position locked at No. 18.
In men's doubles, Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik dropped from No. 3 to No. 5, losing points after their runners-up finish at last year's China Open. They should remain stable in the top five, maintaining a comfortable lead over Indonesia's Fajar Alfian-Muhammad Rian Ardianto.
The men's doubles remains Malaysia's best-performing discipline, with four pairs in the world's top 20. The other three are newly turned professionals Goh Sze Fei-Nur Izzuddin Rumsani (12th), Man Wei Chong-Tee Kai Wun (17th), and Choong Hon Jian-Haikal Nazri (19th).
World No. 8 Pearly Tan-M. Thinaah and No. 9 Chen Tang Jie-Toh Ee Wei maintain their rankings in women's doubles and mixed doubles respectively.
However, Goh Jin Wei, Malaysia's highest-ranked women's singles player, dropped from No. 31 to No. 33.