Sachin Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly were among the host of high-profile winning bidders, as the organisers of the much-anticipated Indian Super League unveiled the eight franchises for the event in Mumbai on Sunday.
Pune Pistons secured a close 3-2 victory after icon player Ashwini Ponnappa and Fischer Nielsen Joachim won the deciding mixed doubles match.
Confident after winning a bronze medal at the World Badminton Championships, fast rising shuttler P V Sindhu says she is ready to take on her celebrated compatriot Saina Nehwal at the inaugural Indian Badminton League.
Cricket icon Sachin Tendulkar on Monday unveiled the team jersey and anthem of Kerala Blasters, the Indian Super League team co-owned by him, and promised to support local talent in the state.
According to the report, published on Tuesday, the event's prize money of $4.2 million is much more than the combined prize money of all other sports leagues in the country.
Defending champion Ajay Jayaram continued his dominant run at the Dutch Open, reaching the semi-finals of the men's singles competition of the $55,000 Grand Prix tournament in Almere, Netherlands.
Disappointed over their base price in Monday's players' auction being slashed at the last minute, doubles specialists Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponnappa declared that the Indian Badminton League's decision was "disrespectful" and "absurd".
Saina Nehwal endured a frustrating title drought but Indian badminton continued to move forward with the emergence of P V Sindhu as the next big sensation and the introduction of the ambitious Indian Badminton League this year.
The Indian Badminton League's glamour quotient has gone up by quite a few notches with a consortium involving former cricket captain Sunil Gavaskar and Telugu actor Nagarjuna buying the event's Mumbai franchise.
Mumbai Masters owner Sunil Gavaskar is waiting with bated breath to meet the world's No 1 shuttler Lee Chong Wei. He says it will be a "thrill" to watch the Malaysian in action in the inaugural Indian Badminton League.
The postponement of the players' auction might have raised some concerns about the upcoming Indian Badminton League but the organisers claimed that top international players from 17 nations including China and Indonesia have agreed to release their top stars for the event.
Krissh Delhi Smashers' icon player Jwala Gutta, who missed her team's Indian Badminton League tie against Mumbai Masters, is yet to recover from a shoulder injury but the ace doubles shuttler is hopeful of playing against Awadhe Warriors on Thursday.
In the biggest match of the Indian Badminton League, World No 4 Saina Nehwal did not disappoint.
The Jwala Gutta-led Krrish Delhi Smashers will lock horns with Ashwini Ponnappa's Pune Pistons in the tournament opener of the inaugural Indian Badminton League, which kicks off in Delhi on Tuesday.
The Badminton Association of India will investigate doubles player Jwala Gutta's alleged role in provoking some players of her Indian Badminton League (IBL) team Krrish Delhi Smashers against playing a match versus Banga Beats.
World No 2 Saina Nehwal suffered a crushing defeat in Awadhe Warriors' Trump match as Mumbai Rockets stormed into the finals with an emphatic 3-0 win in the second semifinals of the Premier Badminton League (PBL) at the Gachibowli indoor stadium, in Hyderabad, on Friday.
Elated after an unbeaten run that helped Hyderabad Hotshots lift the inaugural Indian Badminton League trophy, Saina Nehwal said she expects the $1 million event to become as big as cricket's IPL in the coming years.
Led by Saina Nehwal, Hyderabad Hotshots defeated Awadhe warriors 3-1 to lift the crown of the inaugural Indian Badminton League at the NSCI Stadium on Saturday.
Led by Saina Nehwal, Hyderabad Hotshots defeated Awadhe warriors 3-1 in the final to win the inaugural Indian Badminton League, at the NSCI Stadium, in Mumbai, on Saturday.
The Jwala Gutta-led Delhi Smashers weakened Banga Beats' hopes of a semi-finals berth after they defeated the hosts 4-1 in the inaugural Indian Badminton League in Bangalore on Sunday.
Mumbai Masters managed to eke out a hard-fought 3-2 victory over Banga Beats in their opening encounter of the inaugural Indian Badminton League (IBL) at the Siri Fort Sports Complex in New Delhi on Thursday.
Olympic bronze medalist Saina Nehwal says the inclusion of former Olympic champion and her childhood hero Taufik Hidayat in her team Hyderabad Hotshots will serve as a moral booster in the upcoming Indian Badminton League.
Upset with the organisers' last-minute decision to slash her base price at the IBL auction despite being listed in the icon players' category, ace doubles shuttler Jwala Gutta says she will let her racquet do the talking in the Indian Badminton League.
Star shuttler Saina Nehwal is over the moon after being picked up by Hyderabad Hotshots in the inaugural players' auction of the Indian Badminton League in New Delhi on Monday, and said she will give her best to help her team win the upcoming franchise-based event.
Krrish Delhi Smashers staged a great fightback after losing the first two matches to down Hyderbaad Hotshots 3-2, in the Indian Badminton League in Lucknow.
The Indian Badminton League has named Under-19 players for five of its franchises, in addition to those picked at the auction. According to IBL rules, each franchise had to pick an India Under-19 player, who will be the 11th player in the respective squads.
Embattled shuttler Jwala Gutta moved the Delhi high court on Wednesday against the Badminton Association of India after its disciplinary committee recommended a life ban on her for an alleged code of conduct breach in the Indian Badminton League.
In yet another fascinating day of Indian Badminton League, Banga Beats thrashed Awadhe Warriors 4-1.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi led the tributes that poured in for Badminton Association of India president Dr. Akhilesh Das Gupta, who passed away in Lucknow after suffering a heart attack on Wednesday.
Indian shuttlers lower down the ranks, who get pittance as prize money, are in for a bonanza when they take part as members of one of the franchisee outfits at the proposed Indian Badminton League.
National coach Pullela Gopichand on Wednesday defended Indian Badminton League's decision to reduce the base price of Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponnappa before the IBL Players' auction, saying it was done so that the doubles specialists do not incur financial loss.
When Bollywood star Akshay Kumar joined hands with Premier Badminton League (PBL), only entertainment was expected.
Top shuttlers, including Olympic champion Carolina Marin of Spain and Rio silver medallists P V Sindhu, will be for grabs when the high-profile Players' Auction for the lucrative Premier Badminton League (PBL) gets underway in New Delhi on Wednesday. Besides Marin and Sindhu, Olympic bronze winner Viktor Axelsen of Denmark will be among the 16 Olympic medallists who have confirmed their participation at the second edition of the event to be held from January 1 to 14.
Despite clinching the Macau Open title for the third time, India's ace shuttler P V Sindhu remained static at 12th position in the latest BWF world ranking released on Thursday. Saina Nehwal also held on to her number two position but a poor run of form saw K Srikanth lose a spot and slip to World No. 9.
Spearheaded by Malaysian world No 1 Lee Chong Wei, Mumbai Masters took a winning 3-1 lead over Delhi Smashers in the Indian Badminton League match at the NSCI courts, in Mumbai, on Tuesday night.
Saina, who has been battling illness and injuries, is going through a bad patch, having lost six times in the first round this season.
The Attri and Reddy duo made light-weight of their opponent
Former India badminton coach Vimal Kumar on Tuesday blamed the withdrawals by Asian nations for the postponement of the Thomas and Uber Cup Final, calling it a "big setback" for the sport.
With the two teams locked 2-2 in the overall tie after the first the three matches, it was left to their respective mixed doubles pairs to push them ahead.
World No 1 men's shuttler Lee Chong Wei's coach Tey Seu Bock of Malaysia was appointed chief coach of Mumbai Masters for the inaugural Vodafone Indian Badminton League on Sunday.
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