Hyderabad to host PBL 2017 opener, final in New Delhi

Hyderabad will host the opening match of the Premier Badminton League (PBL)'s second edition which starts on January 1, while the final will be held in New Delhi on January 14, it was announced on Tuesday.

After two days of action in Hyderabad, National Sports Club of India, Mumbai and BBD Uttar Pradesh Badminton Academy will host the second and third leg respectively.

Koramangala Indoor Stadium will host the Bengaluru leg as well as be the home stadium of Chennai Smashers. Chennai has not been included in the schedule this year.

"We were very keen to extend PBL to Chennai this year, as it is one of the key markets for badminton in India. But unfortunately we have not been able to do it this year and we hope that from next year, Chennai and Tamil Nadu will become one of the key stops for PBL in the calendar," PBL's promoter SportzLive Managing Director Atul Pande said in a release.

The event features six teams vying for a prize purse of Rs 6 crore and will see Hyderabad Hunters and Chennai Smashers kick off the league at the Sports Authority of Andhra Pradesh, Hyderabad.

The tie is being billed as the clash of titans with 2016 Olympic champion Carolina Marin (Hyderabad) and Olympic silver medallist P.V. Sindhu going against each other on the opening day.

--IANS

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