New Delhi:Saina Nehwal's fine show at the Malaysian Open Super series has taken her to the verge of breaking into the league of the world's top 20 badminton players.

Saina climbed five places to 21 spot, her highest so far, in the latest international rankings released by Badminton World Federation today.

The 16-year-old badminton sensation started the new season with a bang when she upset world number 22 Judith Meulendijks of the Netherlands in the first round in Kuala Lumpur.

Saina, currently eyeing her maiden national crown in Patna, bowed out in the second round against world number 12 Mew Choo Wong of Malaysia.

In the new BWF Super Series ranking, Saina is rubbing shoulders with the world's best and is placed as high as ninth.

The Super Series has been introduced by the world body this year and consists of 12 open events, each offering a minimum of USD 200,000 in prize money.

Trupti Murgunde is the next highest Indian at 51st spot, a jump of one spot.

In the men's rankings, Chetan Anand has cleared two heads and is at 29th place. Nikhil Kanetkar, Anup Sridhar and P Kashyap are placed one after another from 42 position onwards, slipping one notch each.