The Rio 2016 Olympics star duo in the women's badminton event — PV Sindhu and Carolina Marin — renew their rivalry with the start of the new calendar year at the Premier Badminton League (PBL) 2017. This is a massive chance for Indian sports fans to witness the event live in action, starting January 1.
This is the second season of the Indian Premier League (IPL) and Indian Super League (ISL) style badminton league in India, and the top stars will be seen in action. If you haven't booked the tickets yet, don't wait any longer.
India's PV Sindhu — the silver medallist in Olympics 2016 — is a member of Chennai Smashers, while Spain's Carolina Marin — the gold medallist in Olympics 2016 — is a member of the Hyderabad Hunters team.
It will be interesting who the crowd in Hyderabad chants for on Sunday during their match. In an interesting twist, Sindhu — who hails from Hyderabad — is playing against Hyderabad, in Hyderabad!
"I hope Hyderabad city will support me when I play Sindhu because I am their player. Sindhu may belong to this place but I will have enough support here. It will be a great match against her," Carolina Marin said to the Times of India.
Sindhu, on her part, said: "You have to ask the crowd about this. It's going to be a good match as she is playing for Hyderabad, but we really can't tell whom the crowd will support!"
A new feature in the event is the 11-point scoring system, which will definitely increase the tempo of the match and make it more dramatic.
Head to head record:
Sindhu 3-5 Marin
Sindhu vs Marin schedule PBL 2017:
Date: January 1.
Time: 7 pm IST onwards.
TV guide: Star Sports 1/HD, Star Sports 3/HD (India).
Venue: Gachibowli Stadium, Hyderabad.