The much anticipated Premier Badminton League (PBL) 2017 auction took place on Wednesday in New Delhi. The prestigious Indian badminton tournament, much like the Indian Premier League (IPL), Indian Super League (ISL) and the Pro Kabaddi, is entering its second season next year.
Top shots PV Sindhu, Carolina Marin and Saina Nehwal are the major attractions among the women players while the icon men's badminton players include Viktor Axelsen and Jan O Jorgensen.
PBL 2017 is scheduled for a January 1 start next year. It will be a 15-day league taking place across state-of-the-art stadiums in India, including Hyderabad, Bengaluru, Mumbai, Chennai, New Delhi and Lucknow.
The teams where these hotshots will be playing in the upcoming edition has been decided now. The list is below.
"Thanks to the spectacular performance of Indian players at the Olympics, the game has added a large number of new viewers, so our effort will be to make the league as exciting and interesting as possible," said Pullela Gopichand, Indian badminton national coach, who is also the chief adviser of the PBL. "We are bringing in certain innovations in the format of the League to make it even more spectator-friendly."
Complete list of players drafted to the six teams
Awadhe Warriors - V Shem Goh, Srikanth Kidambi (51 lakhs), Savitree Amitrapai, Saina Nehwal (33 lakhs), Wong Wing Ki Vincent, Rituparna Das, Bodin Isara, Markis Kido, Prajakta Sawant, Aditya Joshi
Mumbai Rockets - Lee Yong Dae, Sung Ji Hyun, Nadiezda Zieba, Ajay Jayaram, Prannoy HS (22 lakhs), Nipitphon Phusnhphupet, Manu Atri, Abhishek Yelegar, Vrushali G, Mohita Sehdev
Delhi Acers - Son Wan Ho, Jan o Jorgensen (59 lakhs), Jwala Gutta (10 lakhs), Nithchaon Jindapol, Ivan Sozonov, Vladimir Ivanov, Akshay Dewalkar, K. Maneesha, Akarshi Kashyap, Siril Verma
Hyderabad Hunters - Carolina Marin (61.5 lakhs), Wee Kiong Tan, Chau Hoi Wah, Rajiv Ouseph, Sai Praneeth, Satwik Sairaj, Sameer Verma, Krishna Priya, Meghna J, Tan Boon Heong
Bengaluru Blasters - Viktor Axelsen (39 lakhs), Yoo Yeon Seong, Ashwini Ponnappa (15 lakhs), Porntip Buranaprasertsuk, Ruthvika Gadde, Sourabh Verma, Pranaav Chopra, Ko Sung Hyun, Sikki Reddy, Boonsak Ponsana
Chennai Smashers - Tommy Sugiarto, P V Sindhu (39 lakhs), Gabby Adcock, Tanongsak S, P Kashyap (8 lakhs), Chris Adcock, Mads Pieler Kolding, B Sumeeth Reddy, Ramya Tulasi, Arundhati Pantawane