Hyderabad: World Champion Viktor Axelsen of Denmark and numero uno Chinese Taipei shuttler Tai Tzu Ying will be up for grabs when the high-profile Players’ Auction for the lucrative Premier Badminton League (PBL) gets underway here Monday.
Axelsen, the newly crowned World No.1 after he clinched his maiden World Championship gold at Glasgow, and reigning All England champion Tai Tzu, who also won titles at Malaysia, Singapore, have confirmed their participation at the PBL, to be organised by Sportzlive under the aegis of Badminton Association of India (BAI).
Rio Olympic champion Carolina Marin of Spain and India’s World No.2 P V Sindhu, World Championship bronze medallist, Saina Nehwal and Kidambi Srikanth are expected to be the top draws during the auction, which allows each franchise to spend Rs 2.12 crore on their team.
A total of 133 players will go under the hammer. As many as 10 Olympic medallists (including three multiple medal winners) and eight medallists from the recently concluded World Championships have confirmed their presence for the Rs 6 crore League, which gets under way in December.
Interestingly, China will also be well represented this time, with their World No.11 men’s singles player Tian Houwei putting his hat in the ring.
PBL III will be a strong eight-team league, with the addition of two more franchises. It will begin December 22 and conclude January 14 and will enthral fans at Mumbai, Hyderabad, Lucknow, Chennai and Guwahati. Each team can splurge a maximum of Rs 72 lakh on one player out of their total purse of Rs 2.12 crore.
press trust of India
