Two days after hinting at a pullout after their base price was slashed at the Indian Badminton League (IBL) auctions, men’s doubles specialists Rupesh Kumar and Sanave Thomas on Saturday decided to compete in the tournament.
“I spoke to Sporty Solutionz (commercial partner) and they said it was a mistake, that they didn’t communicate to us. We decided to play and Rupesh has already spoken to Pune coach Nikhil. If we don’t play it will be disrespect to the franchise, and it’s not their fault,” Sanave. “We are three doubles specialists — me, Rupesh and Arun Vishnu. There is Joachiam Fischer Nielsen from Denmark, who is a good mixed doubles player. We hope to do well for the team,” he added.
After star women’s doubles players Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponappa’s criticism of the organisers for reducing their base price at the players’ auction without informing them, Rupesh and Sanave had on Thursday complained of getting a raw deal.
