Pulsating contests between India’s rising stars could turn into a rip-roaring spectacle in two of the three Premier Badminton League (PBL) matches at the National Sports Club here on Saturday and Sunday.
Recently former All- England champion P. Gopi Chand pointed out that the city, which has been deprived of top class competition since the IBL two years ago, would be able to whet its appetite by watching some of the world class players in action when Mumbai Rockets takes on Lucknow’s Awadhe Warriors in the opening tie of the league; and Chennai Smashers on the weekend.
The local fans will also get to watch Hyderabad Hunters take on Bengaluru Top Guns.
The first day of the league will feature India’s top woman player Saina Nehwal, who, in spite of a nagging foot injury, recently stopped Spain’s World No. 1 Carolina Marin from having a shot at the Dubai World Super Series title.
Saina, bought at $100,000 by Awadhe Warriors, is likely to be pitted against a Mumbai Rockets’ junior, Ruthvika Shivani Gadde, who is eager to make a mark. The gap in ranking between the two is wide with Saina at a high of No. 2 and Ruthvika at No. 130 in the Badminton World Federation (BWF) list. Last March, Saina had beaten the teenager 21-16, 21-17 in the Super Series event in New Delhi.
On Sunday Ruthvika is also likely to face World No. 12, P.V. Sindhu, who recently won the Macau Open singles crown.
Among the men, S. Kidambi, Sai Praneeth, Saurabh Varma, H.S. Prannoy, R.M.V. Gurusaidutt, Sameer Verma, P. Kashyap, Ajay Jayaram and Siril Verma, will be the players upon whom attention will be riveted.
However, Jayaram will not be seen in action here as Delhi Acers has not been drawn to play in Mumbai. He lost the Korea Open Super Series final to World No. 1 Chen Long. He won the bronze in the Grand Prix Gold category Malaysian Open and Swiss Open, won the Grand Prix category Dutch Open and the bronze in the Russian Open.
The world class list is headed by Malaysian Lee Chong Wei, who last year faced an eight-month ban by the Doping Hearing Panel of the WBF, because he tested positive for a banned drug, dexamethasone, during the 2014 BWF World championships in Copenhagen.
He missed six Super Series events last year, but once he returned, the 33-year-old finished runner-up to Chen Long in the World championship at Jakarta, won the French, China and Hong Kong Open Super Series titles, the Grand Prix Gold US Open title and the Grand Prix Canadian Open title.
Junior Siril Verma’s performance will also be watched. But, with Kashyap and Wei in the Hyderabad Hunters team, it’s unlikely he may figure in the men’s singles.
Rockets’ Prannoy, who beat Jan Jorgensen in the Indian Super Series, is expected to win a big point for his side. Head-to-head he’s 2-1 against Warriors’ Sai Praneeth, but 0-2 to Saurabh Varma; he has not played against Thailand’s Tanongsak Saensomboonsuk.
