India's Saina Nehwal has become the first non-Chinese woman to top badminton's world rankings for more than four years.
Tina Baun of Denmark ruled the roost in December 2010 before a period of Chinese domination took hold.
Olympic champion Li Xuerui, currently nursing a foot problem, is the player to make way for Nehwal, whose fellow number-one contender Carolina Marin bowed out in the semi-finals of the India Open.
Spain's world champion Marin beat Nehwal to lift the All England title earlier in the month but she fell short against third-seed Ratchanok Itanon, going down to a 21-19 21-23 22-20 defeat.
The result meant Nehwal would ascend to number one irrespective of the result in her own semi-final against Yui Hashimoto of Japan - a match where she romped to a 21-15, 21-11 triumph.
The 25-year-old's achievement won the highest praise in terms of Indian sporting icons, with cricketing great Sachin Tendulkar hailing her as "a true role model" on his Twitter page.
Tendulkar tweeted: "Congratulations to @NSaina on becoming the first Indian woman to be the World Number 1.
"Well done and keep smashing them on! A true role model for aspiring sports persons in the country."
Nehwal's coach Vimal Kumar kept his player's newfound lofty status in perspective and called for consistency across a forthcoming busy schedule.
"I am quite pleased," he told the Times of India.
"Now she needs to find consistency. So many events are coming up, showing consistency is the key," said Kumar.