News Nation Logo

Saina, Chong Wei star draws at IBL auction on Monday

Home-grown Icons Saina Nehwal And P Kashyap, Along With Some International Stars Such As Lee Chong Wei, Would Be The Top Draws At The USD1 Million Indian Badminton League's Players' Auction To Be Held On Monday.

PTI | Updated on: 20 Jul 2013, 09:01:31 PM

New Delhi:

Home-grown icons Saina Nehwal and P Kashyap, along with some international stars such as Lee Chong Wei, would be the top draws at the USD1 million Indian Badminton League's players' auction to be held on Monday.

Six players have been earmarked icon players with world number one Chong Wei the only international shuttler among them in the list that includes Nehwal, Jwala Gutta, Ashwini Ponnappa, PV Sindhu and Kashyap. Each of these players would attract a base price of USD50,000.

Other notable shuttlers in the list of top 30 available for the auction include Thailand's Boonsak Ponsana and Hu Yun of Hong Kong who also have a base price of USD50,000.

Sony Dwi Kuncoro of Indonesia, Kenichi Tago of Japan and Vietnam's Tien Minh Nguyen, who will be available at a base price of USD25,000, are the other current players who are in the top-10 in men's world rankings.

The list also includes former world and Olympic champion Taufiq Hidayat for a base price of USD15,000. Hidayat recently retired from the international circuit.

The base price of RMV Gurusaidutt has been kept at USD25,000 while for Ajay Jayaram's bidding will start at the price of USD30,000.

In the women's category, German star Juliane Schenk and Thailand's Ratchanok Intanon will have a base price of USD50000. Another Thai player Porntip Buranaprasertsuk (USD 20,000), Denmark's Tine Baun (USD30,000), Lindaweni Fanetri (USD15,000) of Indonesia would be the other attractions in the auction that will be conducted by renowned London-based auctioneer Bob Hayton.

Gutta and Ponnappa will be participating in the doubles category of the event. The franchises will also be bidding for lesser known Indian stars though they would be given the lost of these players during the auction.

Though China will hold their national championships during IBL season, two shuttlers - Bao Chunlai in singles and Zheng Bo in doubles - will be available at the auction.

"The auction signals the start of the first season of what we hope will mark a phenomenal beginning for Indian badminton. The 2013 edition of the IBL will feature six teams and it will be interesting to see how the Franchises go about bolstering their respective line-ups prior to the IBL," IBL chairman Akhilesh Das Gupta said.

The opening match of the IBL will take place on August 14 here.

"Some of the biggest promoters of sports will be bidding for the finest players in the world and we hope the IBL auction will usher in a dynamic makeover for Indian badminton," said Ashish Chadha, CEO Sporty Solutionz, the Commercial Partner for IBL.

For all the Latest Sports News News, Other Sports News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.

First Published : 20 Jul 2013, 08:59:00 PM

Videos