Hyderabad: The 2018 Premier Badminton League (PBL) players’ auction took place in Hyderabad on Monday, and among the 133 players who took part in the auction, Ahmedabad Smash Masters bought World No. 15 men’s singles shuttler HS Prannoy of India for a whopping Rs. 62 lakhs (around USD $95k).
Reigning world champion and World No. 1 Viktor Axelsen of Denmark however was bought by his old team Bengaluru Blasters for Rs. 50 lakhs or USD $77k.
Meanwhile, Delhi Acers picked up both men’s singles World No. 2 Son Wan Ho and women’s World No. 5 Sung Ji Hyun for Rs. 50 lakhs each, while Olympic champion Carolina Marin stayed with her previous team – Hyderabad Hunters, for a base price of Rs. 50 lakhs.
Ironically, the two biggest stars of the Indian badminton namely P.V Sindhu and Saina Nehwal were retained at lower price tag than expected compared to other international badminton players. P.V Sindhu joined Chennai Smashers with 48.75 lacs (USD $74,685), while Saina Nehwal were acquired by Awadhe Warriors for 41.2 lacs (USD $63,118).
Here is complete list of all the players, their salaries and the teams they will play for in the 2017-2018 PBL.
Ahmedabad Smash Masters: Tai Tzu Ying (52 lacs), Sourabh Verma (13 lacs), HS Prannoy (62 lacs), Kidambi Nandagopal (1 lacs), Law Cheuk Him (18 lacs), Lee Reginald (32 lacs), Kamilla Rytter Juhl (35 lacs), Tai Tzu Ting (52 lacs).
North Eastern Warriors: Tzu Wei Wang (52 lacs), Prajakta Sawant (7 lacs), Chirag Shetty (5 lacs), Shin Baek Cheol (55 lacs), Ruthvika Shivani Gadde (9 lacs), Michelle Li (15 lacs), Ajay Jayaram (44 lacs).
Hyderabad Hunters: Carolina Marin (50 lacs), Sai Praneeth (retained for 40 lacs), Lee Hyun II (53 lacs), (Pia Zebadiah (14 lacs), Yoo Yeon Seong (53 lacs), Satwiksairaj Rankireddy (retained for 3.75 lacs).
Mumbai Rockets: Sameer Verma (52 lacs), Beiwen Zhang (33 lacs), Son Wan Ho (50 lacs), Gabriela Stoeva (20 lacs), Lee Yong Dae (retained for 46.8 lacs), Tan Boon Heong (25 lacs).
Delhi Acers: Shreyansh Pradesh (1 lac), Tian Houwei (58 lacs), Vladimir Ivanov (retained for 33.75 lacs), Sung Ji Hyun (50 lacs), Ashwini Ponnappa (20 lacs), Arathi Sara Sunil (3 lacs), Ivan Sozonov (retained for 18 lacs), Pranaav Jerry Chopra (18 lacs).
Awadhe Warriors: Or Chin Chung (8 lacs), Parupalli Kashyap (20 lacs), Srikanth Kidambi (retained for 56.1 lacs), Tang Chun Man (10 lacs), Christinna Pedersen (42 lacs), Saina Nehwal (retained for 41.2 lacs), Hendra Setiawan (45 lacs).
Chennai Smashers: Brice Leverdez (18 lacs), Tanongsak S (25 lacs), Chris Adcock (54 lacs), Gabrielle Adcock (48 lacs), Lee Yang (25 lacs), Sumeeth Reddy (3 lacs), PV Sindhu (retained for 48.75 lacs).
Bengaluru Blasters: Harsheel Dani (4 lacs), Kim Sa Rang (49 lacs), Mathias Boe (41 lacs), Manu Attri (17 lacs), Victor Axelsen (50 lacs), K Maneesha (5 lacs), Sikki Reddy (retained for 6.2 lacs), Kirsty Gilmour (33 lacs).