PBL auction: Saina, Sindhu, Marin fetch maximum price
NEWDELHI: P V Sindhu, Saina Nehwal and world champion Carolina Marin were the expected top buys at the Premier Badminton League season four auction, fetching the maximum price of ~80 lakh here Monday. The unexpected one was rising doubles star Satwiksairaj Rankireddy who was the highest paid non Icon Indian player with ~52 lakh.
With all players returning to the auction pool for the first time since 2015 and no Right to Match (RTM) card at teams’ disposal, the exercise gained more significance with franchisees looking to get the combination right besides their ideal Icon player.
Indonesia’s Tommy Sugiarto was the highest paid non-Icon Player with Delhi Dashers splurging ~0 lakh for his services. The Delhi outfit won a tense battle with two other teams to acquire the World No 11, paying ~40 lakh above his base price.
Icon players Marin and Sindhu were the obvious choice for most teams. At least four teams raised the prize purse to ~80 lakh, the maximum limit a team can bid for a player, before the players got assigned to the teams by a draw of lots. The Spaniard, who played a major role in helping Hyderabad Hunters win the title last year, would now shift base to Pune. The new outfit were clearly gunning for the multiple time world champion Marin and were understandably delighted when the announcer pulled out a chit of their name in a draw of lot.
Among the non-Icon Indians, Rankireddy was the top draw as Ahmedabad Smash Masters outbid the Hyderabad Hunters to secure the youngster for ~52 lakh, a massive jump from his base price of ~15 lakh.
The fourth season of the PBL will begin in Mumbai on December 22 while the final will be held in Bengaluru on January 13, 2019.
A ninth team, Pune7 Aces, has been added this year and is co-owned by actor Taapsee Pannu. Marin will be playing for her team.
Sindhu, who was playing for Chennai Smashers for the last two seasons, will be playing for her home team Hyderabad while two times CWG gold winner Saina will be seen plying her trade for the North-Eastern Warriors.
Among the other Icon Players, former world champion Viktor Axelsen will represent Ahmedabad Smash Masters, Kidambi Srikanth would play for Bengaluru Raptors, HS Prannoy will turn up for Delhi Dashers.
Chennai Smashers, who will have Korean Sung ji Hyun as their Icon player, managed to retain English mixed doubles combination of Chris and Gabby Adcock, paying them ~54 lakh and ~36 lakh respectively.