Viet Nam's top player Nguyen Tien Minh has risen to the seventh place in the Badminton World Federation rankings.

Minh held the seventh position before, but last month fell to eighth in the world rankings. The top six positions have remained unchanged, with Malaysia's Lee Chong Wei leading, followed by mainland China's Lin Dan and Chen Long, Denmark's Peter Hoeg Gade, Chinese Chen Jin and Japan's Sho Sasaki.

Minh won a ticket to the Beijing Olympics four years ago by maintaining his place in top 10. The 29-year-old will qualify for the London Olympics, set for this summer, if he manages to stay in the top 10 again.

Minh had a poor start to the new year, being knocked out at the South Korea Open and the Malaysia Open held in early January.

He will compete at qualifiers for the Thomas and Uber Cup in Macau from February 13-19. — VNS