PBL great advertisement for Indian badminton, says Sindhu
Sindhu, who will be spearheading defending champion Chennai Smashers’ campaign once again, feels that the League has itself become some sort of an advertisement for the way Indians have been dominating the sport in the recent past.
Published : Oct 10, 2017 19:43 IST
World championship silver medallist, P.V. Sindhu, says that the Premier Badminton League has become bigger and tougher with the addition of two more new teams in the coming edition starting, starting December 22.
Sindhu, who will be spearheading defending champion Chennai Smashers’ campaign once again, feels that the League has itself become some sort of an advertisement for the way Indians have been dominating the sport in the recent past.
“I don’t think playing in the League would mean exposing your strengths and weaknesses as the foreign players tend to know your game better.
"For, if you look at the number of events we are playing, we are anyhow competing against each other so frequently, that the onus is on the players to keep changing in tune with the needs of the challenges that arise on the given day,” the Rio Olympics silver medallist said.
“Yes with the Adcocks (Chris and Gabby) in my team, we should be a force to reckon with to defend the title,” said a smiling Sindhu.
For his part, World No. 8 K. Srikanth (Awadhe Warriors) feels the PBL is exciting and demanding while naturally expecting the players to raise the bar consistently over a period of three weeks.
“Frankly, PBL is not about how much money you get but all about giving off your best irrespective for which franchise you play. I mean all the players are immensely pleased with the PBL concept and eager to play,” he said.
London Olympics quarterfinalist P. Kashyap quipped that he is happy to be playing badminton again and hopes to break into the top 10 very soon.
“I am feeling pretty confident and since we have quite a few major events lined up before the PBL we are sure to hit the peak at the right time,” he said.
Sportzlive Executive Director Mangipudi Prasad said the franchisees this time had emphasized more on having strong doubles combinations and felt the PBL would be a huge success again.