The top Badminton stars earned big deals at the Indian Badminton League (IBL) auction, reminding the Indian Premier League (IPL) in cricket. India’s ace shuttler and Olympic Bronze medalist Saina Nehwal was sold to Hyderabad Hostshots at USD 120,00 (Approx Rs 70 lakh). World No. 1 Lee Chong Wei of Malaysia got the highest bid of USD 135,000 (Approx Rs 80 lakh) from Mumbai Masters.
Parupalli Kashyap was sold to Banga Beats at USD 75,000, while P.V. Sindhu was bought by Lucknow Warriors for USD 80,000. Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponappa were unfortunate to be sold below their base price of USD 50,000. Jwala went to Delhi Smashers at USD 31,000, while Ashwini was bought by Pune Pistons for USD 25,000. The IBL had agreed to compensate the players to make it USD 50,000 each for them.
The $1 million Indian Badminton League (IBL) would be held in six cities across the country during August 14-31. At least 50 top players from across the world will take part in the league. The cities that will host the IBL are Mumbai, Pune, Lucknow, New Delhi, Hyderabad and Bangalore.
