Neo Sports Plus, a new sports entertainment channel, was launched in Mumbai on Wednesday.

The channel was launched in the presence of some non-cricket Indian sports achievers including former All England [Images] champion Pullela Gopichand and women's tennis star Sania Mirza [Images].

The first event to be shown live on the channel, one of the three sports channels planned by Nimbus [Get Quote] Communications, is the Duleep Trophy final to be held later this month in Kolkata, according to Neo Sports Broadcast Private Limited chief executive officer Shashi Kalathil.

The main idea of starting the channel is to focus on sports other than cricket for which the company already has a dedicated channel, according to the company's officials.

The newly-launched channel has acquired the rights of the top football leagues of Germany [Images], Italy [Images], Brazil [Images] and Argentina.

Badminton's top events like the Thomas Cup, Uber Cup and the world championships would also be shown.

Welcoming the channel's launch, Gopi - the current national badminton coach - said that it would help generate interest in his game if viewers are able to watch Indian players making waves in the international arena.

Also present on the occasion were former world amateur billiards champion Michael Ferreira, ace woman rifle shooter Anjali Bhagwat and eight-time national table tennis men's singles champion Kamlesh Mehta.