Legal wrangle looms over IBL

NEW DELHI, Oct 29, (RTRS): The Indian Badminton League (IBL) will return next year with top players from across the world, its organisers said on Thursday, but the legal wrangle that has dogged the tournament since its 2013 inception seems far from over.

Lee Chong Wei and fellow former men’s number one Taufik Hidayat headlined the inaugural edition of the franchise-based six-team tournament which proved a hit with the local crowd.

Badminton Association of India (BAI) scrapped the second edition of the league citing scheduling issues before terminating the contract of league promoters Sporty Solutionz, who moved court against the decision. Russia’s Maria Sharapova hits a return against Italy’s Flavia Pennetta during their women’s singles round robin tennis match at the WTA Finals in Singapore

on Oct 29. (AFP) the set meekly.

The Russian now had the momentum and broke early in the second set through a combination of her typical booming forehands and recently developed sliced backhand chips and drop shots to surge 3-0 clear.

Pennetta staved off more break points to stop the rot as Sharapova was threatening to send her into retirement with a dreaded ‘bagel’ but the reprieve was brief as the Russian sent down her seventh ace on the way to winning the last three games.

Radwanska had lost her first two matches and few would have given the fifth seed a chance of upsetting the highest-ranked player in the tournament after Serena Williams’ withdrawal, especially when she took to the court with strapping around her right thigh and shoulder.