A string of impressive performances has catapulted Gagan Narang to the top of the world rankings in the men's 10m air rifle category in the latest list announced by the International Shooting Sport Federation.

Narang, who became the first Indian shooter to have qualified for the 2008 Beijing Olympics after winning the gold medal at a recent World Cup in China, jumped 18 rungs for his career-best placement in his pet event.

The 22-year-old has had several podium finishes in the last few months including four gold medals with record scores in the recent Commonwealth Games at Melbourne.

Narang's earlier best rank was eighth which he achieved last year.

Olympic silver medallist Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore maintained his sixth rank in the men's double trap event. Rathore won a gold and a silver medal at the Melbourne Games.

In the women's section, Kuheli Ganguly made her debut in the rankings list, being 20th in 50m rifle 3 positions while Tejaswini Sawant and Avaneet Kaur Sidhu also entered the list to be 22nd and 34th respectively in the 10m rifle event.

The rankings are computed based on the performance score as well as the placing of the shooter in ISSF supervised championships and competitions.