BADMINTON powerhouse China will not take part in the inaugural Indian Badminton League (IBL) next month, organisers said on Monday (July 22), taking much of the sheen off the million-dollar event.
The IBL, inspired by cricket’s popular Indian Premier League, is due to be held from August 14-31 and features six city-based franchises sold to businesses and individuals.
Former India cricket captain Sunil Gavaskar is said to have a stake in the Mumbai franchise which will play against teams from Pune, Lucknow, Delhi, Bangalore and Hyderabad.
Among the players who were sold at an auction in New Delhi on Monday are men’s world number one Lee Chong Wei of Malaysia and women’s world number three Saina Nehwal of India.
Other players in the auction include Boonsak Ponsana of Thailand, Hu Yun of Hong Kong, Juliane Schenk of Germany and Ratchanok Intanon of Thailand.
Each team will comprise four foreign players, six Indians and one upcoming Indian junior.
Teams will play each other twice on an home-and-away basis in the preliminary league with the top four qualifying for the semi-finals.
Each tie will comprise of five matches – two men’s singles, and one each in women’s singles, men’s doubles and mixed doubles.
Saina Nehwal’s wish to be in her home team came true as Hyderabad Hotshots bought the Indian star for $120,000 (£78,270.10) but world number one Lee Chong Wei proved to be the costliest, going to Mumbai Masters for $135,000 (£88,056.79) in the New Delhi auction.
Malaysian icon Lee Chong Wei, who got the franchises excited, triggering a bidding war between Mumbai Masters and the Delhi Smashers.
Eventually, Mumbai, which has cricket legend Sunil Gavaskar among its consortium of owners, came out trumps to bag the biggest international name in fray at the auction for $135,000.
Commonwealth Games bronze-medallist Parupalli Kashyap, also an icon player, was picked up by Banga Beats for $75,000 (£48,919.84).
Rising star P V Sindhu was the big buy netted by Lucknow Warriors for $80,000 (£52,180.32), while feisty doubles star Jwala Gutta went to Delhi Smashers at $31,000 (£20,220.77).
