New Delhi:The Indian Badminton league on Monday conducted its first auction with all six franchisees who battled it out to create their dream team. While Saina Nehwal bought by Hyderabad HotShots and Lee Chong Wei bought by Mumbai Masters were sold for $ 1,20,000 and $1,35,000 respectively and young players like K Srikanth who was bid for $34,000 which was more than double his base price.
Other icon players like Jwala Guta and Ashiwini Ponnappa were taken up by franchisees in their original base price $50,000 each.
Speaking on the occasion, Dr Akhilesh Das Gupta, Badminton Association of India President and MP said, “We are content with the IBL Auction as many Indian players were sought for both in Men Singles and Doubles as well as the Girls Singles. A generous amount has been spent on Indian players by the Franchisees, which is a very positive sign for the Indian players and the sport as a whole. Money is pouring to Indian players as other than auction money they would also be getting endorsement deals. Today’s auctions reflected a healthy and exciting competitive streak among the franchisees and shed light on their game plan. The IBL auctions have set the ball rolling for what promises to be an inimitable experience in sports entertainment.”
The BAI Institute and support has ensured that the IBL takes off well. The players have benefited tremendously in terms of value and also it will be a great support to all players.” added Dr. Das Gupta
Speaking on the just concluded auctions Ashish Chadha, CEO, Sporty Solutionz, the ‘Commercial Partner’ for IBL said, “we are pleased to have a successful and roaring auction. In regard to Jwala and Ashwini the promised base price of $50,000 and ICON status stays. It’s just that in OPEN bidding sometimes don’t go even in favour of big players. Players like Boonsak Ponsana, HuYun, Mithas Boe have not even been sold.”
“The BAI president and the IBL team have to be commended for bringing this wonderful event and hope that the money which the players earn will motivate them further in improving their performance” said Gopichand.
The path-breaking IBL will be held in six cities from August 14-31. The richest badminton league in the world will feature almost all the top-50 players in the world and will be played under the Sudirman Cup format and televised LIVE to more than 100 countries.
Final Bid
| Banga Beats | ||||
| Nationality | Player | Base Price | Player Bought | |
| 1 | Indian | P kashyap (MS) | $50,000 | 75, 000 |
| 2 | Intl | Hu Yun (MS) | $50,000 | 50, 000 |
| 3 | Intl | Tai Tzu Ying (MS) | $25,000 | 25, 000 |
| 4 | Intl | Carolina Marin (WS) | $10,000 | 10, 000 |
| 5 | Intl | Carston Margensen (MD) | $50000 | 50, 000 |
| 6 | Indian | Akshay Dewalkar(MD) | $15,000 | 36, 000 |
| 7 | Indian | Aparna Balan | $10,000 | 12, 000 |
| 8 | Indian | Aditya Prakash | $5000 | 5, 000 |
| 9 | Indian | Arvind Bhat | $7,500 | 7, 500 |
| 10 | Indian | J Meghana | $4,000 | 4, 000 |
| Hyderabad Hotshots | ||||
| Nationality | Player | Base Price | Player Bought | |
| 1 | Indian | Saina Nehwal (WS) | $50,000 | 120, 000 |
| 2 | Intl | Taufik Hidayat (MS) | $15,000 | 15, 000 |
| 3 | Indian | Ajay Jayaram (MS) | $25,000 | 25, 000 |
| 4 | Intl | V Shem Goh | $10,000 | 10, 000 |
| 5 | Indian | Tarun Kona (MD) | $15,000 | 28, 000 |
| 6 | Indian | Pradenya Gadre | $10,000 | 46, 000 |
| 7 | Intl | Khim Wah Lim | $10,000 | 10, 000 |
| 8 | Intl | Tanongsak | $15,000 | 15, 000 |
| 9 | Indian | Kanthi Visalakshi P. | $3,000 | 3, 000 |
| 10 | Indian | Shubhankar Dey | $3,000 | $3,000 |
| Delhi Smashers | ||||
| Nationality | Player | Player Bought | ||
| 1 | Indian | Jwala (WD) | $25,000 | $31, 000 |
| 2 | Intl | Wong Wing Ki (MS) | $20,000 | $20 , 000 |
| 3 | Indian | H.S. Prannoy (MS) | $15,000 | $16, 000 |
| 4 | Indian | Sai Praneeth (MS) | $15,000 | $40, 000 |
| 5 | Indian | Arundhati Panthawane (WS) | $15,000 | $15, 000 |
| 6 | Intl | Boon Hoeng tan (MD) | $25,000 | $50, 000 |
| 7 | Intl | Kien Keat Koo (MD) | $25,000 | $50, 000 |
| 8 | Indian | V. Diju (MD) | $15,000 | $30, 000 |
| 9 | Intl | Nichaon Jindapon | $15,000 | $15, 000 |
| 10 | Indian | Prajakta Sawant | $7,000 | $7, 000 |
| Mumbai Masters | ||||
| Nationality | Player | Player Bought | ||
| 1 | Intl | Lee Chong Wei (MS) | $50,000 | $135, 000 |
| 2 | Intl | Marc Zweibler (MS) | $15,000 | $15, 000 |
| 3 | Intl | Tine Baun (WS) | $30,000 | $30, 000 |
| 4 | India | Pranav Jerry Chopra (MD) | $15,000 | $36, 000 |
| 5 | India | Manu Attri (MD) | $10,000 | $10, 000 |
| 6 | India | Siki Reddy | $10,000 | $11, 000 |
| 7 | India | PC Thulasi | $10,000 | $10, 000 |
| 8 | Intl | Vladimir Ivanov | $15,000 | $15, 000 |
| 9 | India | Rasika Raje | $3,000 | $3, 000 |
| 10 | India | Sumeet Reddy | $7000 | $7,500 |
| Pune Pistons | ||||
| Nationality | Player | Base Price | Player Bought | |
| 1 | Indian | Ashwini Ponappa(WD) | $25,000 | $25, 000 |
| 2 | Intl | Nyugen tien Minh (MS) | $25,000 | $44, 000 |
| 3 | Indian | Saurabh Verma (MS) | $20,000 | $20000 |
| 4 | Indian | Anup Sridhar (MS) | $5,000 | $6,000 |
| 5 | Intl | Juliane Schenk (WS) | $50,000 | $90,000 |
| 6 | Intl | Joachiam Fischer Nielsen | $35,000 | $35,000 |
| 7 | Indian | Sanave Thomas | $5,000 | $5,000 |
| 8 | Indian | Arun Vishnu | $10,000 | $26,000 |
| 9 | Intl | Wee Kiong Tan | $15,000 | $15,000 |
| 10 | Indian | Rupesh Kumar | $5,000 | $5,000 |
| Lucknow Warriors | ||||
| Nationality | Player | Player Bought | ||
| 1 | Indian | PV Sindhu (WS) | $50,000 | $80,000 |
| 2 | Intl | Weng Fei Chong (MS) | $25,000 | $25,000 |
| 3 | Indian | Guru Sai Dutt (MS) | $25,000 | $40,000 |
| 4 | Indian | K Srikanth (MS) | $15,000 | $34,000 |
| 5 | Intl | Sapsiree (WS) | $15,000 | $15,000 |
| 6 | Indian | Ruthvika Shivani (WS) | $3000 | $3,000 |
| 7 | Intl | Marcis Kido | $15,500 | $15,500 |
| 8 | Intl | Maneepong Jongjit | $10,000 | $10,000 |
| 9 | Indian | K Maneesha | $4,000 | $26,000 |
| 10 | Indian | Nanda Gopal (MS) | $10,000 | $10,000 |
