Jwala Gutta, PV Sindhu, Ashwini Ponnappa, Saina Nehwal, Mathias Boe, Carsten Mogensen and Mark Zweibler. HT Photo
It started with apprehension, with the auction date being postponed more than once. From dissent about base prices being slashed to the trophy being ‘unveiled’ twice on Tuesday, the drama has set the stage for the Indian Badminton League to kick off from Wednesday. Promoted as a million-dollar first-of-a-kind league among six city franchises, fans across the country will be treated to 18 days of action. A bright spot for many players is that initial payments have been made. According to sources, the Delhi Smashers made initial payments to domestic players on Monday. “I received my initial payment on Monday. It’s the first 
timesomething of this magnitude is taking place and my priority is the game,” said Jwala Gutta. Looking forward Pune icon player Ashwini Ponnappa is ready to look ahead. “No use brooding over the past. We are all eagerly waiting for the league to start,” she said. The Pune Pistons’ foreign players are reportedly yet to receive 25% they were slated to get after the contract was signed. “The delay is due to an issue with foreign currency, which is usually the case. Once it is sorted out, all the players will be paid,” said an IBL official. Mumbai Masters, led by Lee Chong Wei, will start off against the Banga Beats on Thursday. “All the players have been paid,” said co-owner V Chamundeshwarnath. There were hiccups in payment to the
timesomething of this magnitude is taking place and my priority is the game,” said Jwala Gutta. Looking forward Pune icon player Ashwini Ponnappa is ready to look ahead. “No use brooding over the past. We are all eagerly waiting for the league to start,” she said. The Pune Pistons’ foreign players are reportedly yet to receive 25% they were slated to get after the contract was signed. “The delay is due to an issue with foreign currency, which is usually the case. Once it is sorted out, all the players will be paid,” said an IBL official. Mumbai Masters, led by Lee Chong Wei, will start off against the Banga Beats on Thursday. “All the players have been paid,” said co-owner V Chamundeshwarnath. There were hiccups in payment to the
Saina Nehwal, Ashwini Ponappa, PV Sindhu and Jwala Gutta at the unveiling of the IBL trophy. PTI
Bangalore team, but it was sorted out on Tuesday. “We could not pay them through cheque, but the money has been wired,” said Vijay Lancy, Banga Beats CEO. Gearing up for the big smash HT analyses the strengths and weaknesses of the six teams that will participate in the inaugural million-dollar badminton league that begins on Wednesday. Delhi Smashers: Home stadium: DDA Badminton & Squash Stadium, New Delhi, Squad: Jwala Gutta, Daren Liew (Mas), HS Prannoy, Sai Praneeth, Arundhati Pantawane, Boon Heong Tan (Mas), Kien Keat Koo (Mas), V Diju, Nichaon Jindapon (Tha), Prajakta Sawant, Coach: Rashid Sidek, Strength: Their strength will be in doubles and mixed doubles. With the world No 2 men’s doubles pair of Boon Hoeng Tan and Kien Keat Koo in their ranks, they will be confident of doing well. They also have former mixed doubles partners in V Diju and Jwala Gutta, who did well when they played together on the international level. Weakness: Lack of experience may hurt them in singles. B Sai Praneeth, HS
Jwala Gutta of Delhi Smashers at the unveiling of the IBL trophy. HT Photo
Prannoy and Malaysian Daren Liew may not have the firepower. Mumbai Masters: Home stadium: Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel Stadium (NSCI), Mumbai Squad: Lee Chong Wei (Mas), Marc Zwiebler (Ger), Tine Baun (Den), Vladimir Ivanov (Rus), Pranav Chopra, Manu Attri, N Siki Reddy, PC Thulasi, Rasika Raje, Sumeet Reddy. Coach: Tey Seu Bock. Strength: They will bank on their international stars — Lee Chong Wei, Tine Baun and Marc Zwiebler — to shoulder the responsibility in the singles matches. Weakness: Their doubles players like Vladimir Ivanov and N Sikki Reddy will take time to gel. Pune Pistons: Home stadium: Shri Shiv Chhatrapati Sports Complex, Pune. Squad: Ashwini Ponnappa, Saurabh Verma, Anup Sridhar, Juliane 
Schenk (Ger), Joachim Fischer (Den), Tien Minh Nguyen (Vie), Sanave Thomas, Arun Vishnu, Wee Kiong Tan (Mas), Rupesh Kumar, Revathi Devasthale. Coach: Nikhil Kanetkar. Strength: World No 7 Tien Minh
Nguyen of Vietnam and world No 4 Juliane Schenk of Germany are their biggest assets. Weakness: Apart from Wee Kiong Tan, currently world No. 10, there are no other big international names in men’s doubles. Banga Beats. Home stadium: Kanteerva Indoor Stadium, Bangalore Squad: P Kashyap, Hu Yun (Hkg), Carolina Marin (Esp), Tzu Ying Tai (Tpe), Carsten Mogensen (Den), Akshay Dewalkar, Aparna Balan, Arvind Bhat, Aditya Prakash, J Meghana, Daniel Farid Coach: Vimal Kumar, Strength: The Beats are strong in men’s singles. On their day, P Kashyap and Hu Yun can defeat any player in the world. Weakness: Their women players. World No 8 Tzu Ying Tai and Spaniard Carolina Marin will have to prove themselves as dependable singles winners while Aparna Balan will be tested in mixed doubles. Hyderabad Hotshots: Home stadium: Gachibowli Indoor Stadium, Hyderabad Squad: Saina Nehwal, Taufik Hidayat (Ina), Ajay Jayaram, V Shem Goh (Mas), Tarun Kona, Pradnya Gadre, Khim Wah Lim (Mas), Tanongsak (Tha), Kanthi Visalakshi, Subhankar Dey, C Rahul Yadav Coach: J Rajendra Kumar Strength: With Saina, Taufik and Ajay in their line-up, they will bank on their singles stars to see them through. The most formidable team on paper, they can run through their opponents on any given day. Weakness: Barring world No 17 men’s doubles pair of Lim Khim Wah and Goh V Shem, they lack firepower in the doubles department. Awadhe Warriors Home stadium: Babu Banarasi Das UP Badminton Academy, Lucknow Squad: PV Sindhu, Wei Feng Chong (Mas), RMV Gurusaidutt, K Srikanth, Sapsiree Taerattanachai (Tha), Ruthvika Shivani, Markis Kido (Ina), Mathias Boe (Den), K Maneesha, K Nandagopal Coach: Md Hafiz Hashim Strength: Focus will be on PV Sindhu, especially after her exploits at the Worlds. Markis Kido and Mathias Boe form a formidable men’s doubles pair. Weakness: Weng Fei Chong, Gurusaidutt and Srikanth aren’t exactly world-beaters. Source: Hindustan Times, Source: Image. Sizzling Jwala Gutta in a glamorous mode: Indian badminton stalwarts scorch the ramp during the inaugural ceremony of India Open 2013.
India News : Indian Badminton League kick-starts in New Delhi: India News : New Delhi: Touted as the richest prize-money badminton tournament in the world, IPL-style Indian Badminton League (IBL) kick-started with a grand opening ceremony in New Delhi. The opening ceremony of the IBL started at 6:30 pm in New Delhi. The ceremony had regular song and dance shows before the high-profile clash between Delhi
and Pune that started at 8 pm. The first edition of the league is perhaps taking place at the right time after a successful outing of India at the World Championships last week. Following cricket, hockey and boxing, badminton will also see top shuttlers from all major badminton nations ,excepting China playing in the Aug 14-31 tournament. Bollywood singer Mika Singh, Neeti Mohan and other international stars.will entertain the crowd at the grand opening ceremony: Bollywood singer Mika Singh will entertain the 
crowd at the grand opening ceremony of the cash-rich league along with Neeti Mohan and other international stars. The Indian Badminton League will kick off with Krrish Delhi Smashers taking on Pune Pistons in Delhi today. The match starts at 20:00 I.S.T. Here is a look at both the teams: Krrish Delhi Smashers - Daren Liew, HS Prannoy, Sai Praneeth, Arundhati Patwane, Boon Hoeng tan, Kien Keat Koo, V Diju, Nichaon Jindapon, Prajakta Sawant. Pune Pistons - Nyugen tien Minh, Saurabh Verma, Anup Sridhar, Juliane Schenk, Joachiam Fischer Nielse, Sanave Thomas, Arun Vishnu, Wee Kiong Tan, Rupesh Kumar. Source: The Asian Age, Image. New format will make IBL more open: Delhi smashers: New Delhi: Star shuttlers of Krrish Delhi Smashers today gave a thumbs up to the new scoring system for the USD one million Indian Badminton League (IBL) with their star icon Jwala Gutta saying it will make the game faster and more aggressive.The 29-year-old from Hyderabadi believes the new format in the IBL will make it an exciting tournament, throwing up some interesting results. "The format is different and anybody can win in this format and we have a good team. We played the format today at the practice. The shorter the game, the faster it becomes. It is going to be more aggressive and fast badminton," said the Commonwealth Games gold medallist. "Even it is Lee Chong Wei, we can pull it off in this format. Even if one is 7-0, one can turn the tables. The game can change. Of course it can go against us also, so it is going to be tricky," Jwala added. According to the new scoring system, there will be two breaks of 60 seconds at 7 and 14 points respectively in each of the first two games and if the match is pushed to the decider, then there will be a break after the sixth point. Moreover, while the first two games will be a race to the 21 points, without the standard two-point gap, the player who reaches 11 points first in the decider will emerge as winner of the match. Sai Praneeth, who had spoilt legendary shuttler Taufik Hidayat's farewell at the Indonesia Super Series and also stunned then world number four Yun Hu of Hong Kong in the Singapore Super Series, said the two-breaks in the new format can make the competition more open in the IBL. "It will be a level playing field in this format. We can expect to beat higher players. But strategising will be different and difficult. It will take a few games to understand that. In the 21-point decider, even if you are down you can make a comeback but in 11-point third game, you have to keep attacking. You don't have time to think much," said the world number 37 Indian. H S Prannoy, another men's singles player, also felt the new format will act as an advantage for the Indian players and they can hope to beat top players such as Lee Chong Wei. "Players such as Tien Minh Nguyen used to play long matches. It is more rallies. These players don't have much strokes, it is more fitness," he said. "Even with Lee Chong Wei we will have an advantage in this 11-point format. With Lee you can't play the whole match at his pace, but in this format, you can have a better chance by going full out in the 11-point third game," Prannoy said. Krrish Delhi Smashers will take on Pune Pistons in the opening match of the IBL. Source: The Asian Age,
