Carolina Marin and PV Sindhu were expectedly the most sought-after icon players as the two 2018 world championship finalists were picked by Pune 7 Aces and defending champions Hyderabad Hunters respectively in the players’ auction for the fourth edition of the Premier Badminton League on Monday.
The fourth season of PBL will kick off in Mumbai on December 22, 2018.
With no retention or Right to Match (RTM) card at disposal, the players’ auction was always going to be a keen contest for teams to get the combination right while looking for that one icon player who can inspire them to glory.
The nine franchises had a total purse of Rs 2.6 crore and the icon players could be bought for no higher than Rs 80 lakh. If two or more teams bid Rs 80 lakh for a player, there was a draw of lots. The teams also had to choose four Indians and at least three women in their 10-member squad.
Indonesia’s Tommy Sugiarto became the highest paid non-icon player with the Delhi Dashers splurging Rs 70 lakh for his services. The Delhi outfit won a tense battle with two other teams to acquire the world No 11, paying more than double his base price.
Among the Indians, rising doubles star Satwiksairaj Rankireddy was the top draw and Ahmedabad Smash Masters outbid the Hyderabad Hunters to secure the youngster for Rs 52 lakh, a massive jump from his base price of Rs 15 lakh.
Here are all the nine PBL squads in full:
Ahmedabad Smash Masters
Player | Category | Price (Rs lakh) |
Viktor Axelsen | Singles | 80 |
Anoushka Parikh | Doubles | 3 |
Sikki Reddy | Doubles | 29 |
Satwiksairaj Rankireddy | Doubles | 52 |
Lee Chun Hei Reginald | Doubles | 18 |
K Nandagopal | Doubles | 1 |
Kirsty
Gilmour | Singles | 26 |
Vaishnavi Bhale | Singles | 1 |
Daren
Liew | Singles | 33 |
Sourabh Verma | Singles | 16 |
Money spent: Rs 2.59 crore Awadhe Warriors
Player | Category | Price (Rs lakh) |
Son Wan
Ho | Singles | 70 |
Ashwini Ponnappa | Doubles | 32 |
Mathias Christiansen | Doubles | 37 |
Lee Yang | Doubles | 31 |
Beiwen Zhang | Singles | 39 |
Lee Dong Keun | Singles | 36 |
Sanyogita Ghorpade | Doubles | 1 |
Gurusaidutt | Singles | 7 |
Rasika Raje | Singles | 2 |
MR Arjun | Doubles | 5 |
Money spent: Rs 2.6 crore Bengaluru Raptors
Player | Category | Price (Rs lakh) |
K Srikanth | Singles | 80 |
Mohd Ahsan | Doubles | 42 |
Hendra Setiawan | Doubles | 42 |
Sai Praneeth | Singles | 32 |
Mithun Manjunath | Singles | 2 |
Lauren Smith | Doubles | 20 |
Sanjana Santosh | Doubles | 2 |
Marcus Ellis | Doubles | 20 |
Vu Thi Trang | Singles | 9 |
Nygun Tien Minh | Singles | 6 |
Money spent: Rs 2.55 crore Chennai Smashers
Player | Category | Price (Rs lakh) |
Sung Ji
Hyun | Singles | 80 |
Gabby Adcock | Doubles | 36 |
Rutaparna Panda | Doubles | 2 |
Chris Adcock | Doubles | 54 |
Sumeeth Reddy | Doubles | 10 |
Saili Rane | Singles | 1 |
Rajiv Ouseph | Singles | 24 |
P Kashyap | Singles | 5 |
Or Chin Chung | Doubles | 15 |
Chong Wei Feng | Singles | 14 |
Money spent: Rs 2.41 crore Delhi Dashers
Player | Category | Price (Rs lakh) |
HS Prannoy | Singles | 80 |
Chai Biao | Doubles | 42 |
Wang Sijie | Doubles | 15 |
Maneepong Jongjit | Doubles | 23 |
Evgeniya Kosetskaya | Singles | 5 |
Tommy Sugiarto | Singles | 70 |
Harika V | Doubles | 1 |
Vighnesh Devlekar | Doubles | 1 |
Chirag Sen | Singles | 1 |
Lee Chia Hsin | Singles + Doubles | 20 |
Money spent: Rs 2.58 crore Hyderabad Hunters
Player | Category | Price (Rs lakh) |
PV Sindhu | Singles | 80 |
Eom Hye Won | Doubles | 37 |
Kim Sa Rang | Doubles | 45 |
Bodin Isara | Doubles | 21 |
Sai Uttejitha Rao | Singles | 1 |
Lee Hyun Il | Singles | 60 |
Arun George | Doubles | 1 |
Meghna J | Doubles | 3 |
Mark Caljouw | Singles | 7 |
Rahul Yadav C | Singles | 3 |
Money spent: Rs 2.58 crore Mumbai Rockets
Player | Category | Price (Rs lakh) |
Lee Yong
Dae | Doubles | 80 |
Pia Zebadiah Bernadet | Doubles | 15 |
Kim Gi Jung | Doubles | 45 |
Shriyanshi Pardeshi | Singles | 1 |
Sameer Verma | Singles | 42 |
Kuhoo Garg | Doubles | 2 |
Manu Attri | Doubles | 18 |
Anders Antonsen | Singles | 55 |
Pratul Joshi | Singles | 1 |
Anura Prabhudesai | Singles | 1 |
Money spent: Rs 2.6 crore North Eastern Warriors
Player | Category | Price (Rs lakh) |
Saina Nehwal | Singles | 80 |
Kim Ha Na | Doubles | 40 |
Yoo Yeon Seong | Doubles | 49 |
S Tanongsak | Singles | 20 |
Tian Houwei | Singles | 32 |
K Maneesha | Doubles | 1 |
Liao Min Chun | Doubles | 20 |
Dhruv Kapila | Doubles | 1 |
Siril Verma | Singles | 3 |
Rituparna Das | Singles | 6 |
Money spent: Rs 2.52 crore Pune 7 Aces
Player | Category | Price (Rs lakh) |
Carolina
Marin | Singles | 80 |
Chirag Shetty | Doubles | 14 |
Mathias Boe | Doubles | 50 |
Vladimir Ivanov | Doubles | 17 |
Line Kjaersfeldt | Singles | 31 |
Lakshya Sen | Singles | 11 |
Brice Leverdez | Singles | 20 |
Sony Dwi Kuncoro | Singles | 10 |
Ajay Jayaram | Singles | 10 |
Prajakta Sawant | Doubles | 3 |
Money spent: Rs 2.46 crore