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 |
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 |
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 |
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 |
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 |
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 |
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 |
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 |
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 |
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