Lucknow: Sahara India Pariwar is all set to make their presence felt in the inaugural edition of Indian Badminton League as they have bought the Lucknow franchise of the event which will be played from August 14 to 31. Sahara’s Lucknow franchisee is going to be one of the six teams that will take apart in the tournament.
Meanwhile the Chairman of Sahara India Pariwar, Subrata Roy Sahara was feeling proud to shake the hands with Badminton Association of India (BAI) who have taken this wonderful initiative of promoting the sport across the nation. "We are proud to associate with this initiative of Badminton Association of India. Indian Badminton League will boost the sports of badminton and will redraw the attention of people towards it,” he said.
Subrata Roy emphasised that the main motto of the league is to look out for fresh talent and nurture them for the international stage so that they can make us proud in the upcoming years. "I am sure that the league will also help in identifying fresh talent and will give a platform of international standard for grooming and competing, eventually bringing laurels to our beloved nation."
This great move made by Sahara was heartily appreciated by the President of BAI, Akhilesh Das. He hailed the new franchisee by saying that they have always been the prime promoter of sports in India and with this wonderful move will surely encourage other corporates to come forward in support of the game of badminton.
Mumbai, Pune, Hyderabad, Delhi, Bangalore and Lucknow are the six cities that will feature in the first edition of IBL. Each franchise will host a two-day leg and the USD one million event will have a grand total of 90 matches. The top four franchises will clash in the semifinals and the winners will meet in the grand final on August 31 in Mumbai.