I’ll never come to India: Boe after IBL snub

Mathias Boe (left) returns a shot as his teammate Carsten Mogensen prepares to return during their doubles final match against South Korea's Lee Yong-dae and Ko Sung-hyun at the Korea Open Badminton final in Seoul on January 13, 2013. South Korea's Lee and Ko won the match 19-21, 21-13, 21-10.

Exasperated at being snubbed at the Indian Badminton League players’ auction, Denmark’s Mathias Boe today vowed to not visit India after appearing in Thomas Cup next year.

Boe, who won the All England Super Series in 2011 with compatriot Carsten Mogensen, had a base price of USD 50,000 but the 33-year-old did not find any takers.

Boe, who won the doubles silver at the London Olympics, said next year’s Thomas Cup would be his last assignment in India.

“Didn’t get sold to IBL. I’m really pissed, as I have supported the event all the way though, and almost left the national team to participate,” Boe wrote on his twitter page.

“After Thomas cup next year I will never set my feet in India again or support any events from their side,” he wrote.

Interestingly, his partner Mogensen was bought by Banga Beats from Bangalore at a base price of USD 50,000.

A lot of high-profile players went unsold — including Thailand’s Boonsak Ponsana (ranked fourth), Japan’s Kenechi Tago (ranked fifth), Indonesia’s Tommy Sugiarto (ranked eighth), and Sony Dwi Kuncoro (ranked 10th) — as they will not be available for the entire tournament, which will be held from August 14 to 31.

“I am disappointed because it took a lot for us to get these players on board but I can understand the franchises point of view. They also can’t help as these players are not available for the entire event,” Ashish Chadha, CEO of Sporty Solutionz, commercial partners of IBL, had said on Monday.