Sindhu, Tai Tzu Ying star attractions of PBL 5

Chennai : India's ace shuttlers P V Sindhu and B Sai Praneeth along with former women's world no.1 Tai Tzu Ying will be the star attractions in the fifth edition of the Premier Badminton League (PBL), which kicks off here on Monday.

Seven teams will be vying for top honours in the league which will witness some of the world's best in action and offers a total prize money of Rs six crore, Prasad Mangipudi, executive director, SportzLive, said at a press meet here on Saturday.

The big names apart from world champion Sindhu, who will be participating are Chinese Taipei's Tai Tzu Ying, Olympic silver medallist Christinna Pedersen (women's doubles), former world no. 9 Tanongsak Saensomboonsuk and Indian star shuttlers Sai Praneeth, Parupalli Kashyap, Lakshya Sen and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy.

Bengaluru Raptors' Praneeth, a bronze medallist at the world championship last year, said the league had played a major role in making badminton more popular, adding he was looking forward to taking on some of the best shuttlers during the tournament.

"This league has played a major role in making badminton even more popular and has taken the sport to greater heights. We hope to play some amazing matches over the next few days here in Chennai," he said. He said the league helped juniors a lot as it enabled them learn from the top players from across the world.

Christinna Pedersen, who will be making her comeback to the league with the Awadhe Warriors, said: "India feels like second home. We, Danish players, always look forward to coming back to PBL, which, I believe is the world's strongest league."

Rising star Lakshya, who is part of Chennai Superstarz, said the league would provide a platform to improve his game and also provide much-needed exposure to young shuttlers.

The seven teams in the fray are Awadhe Warriors, Bengaluru Raptors, Mumbai Rockets, Hyderabad Hunters, Chennai Superstarz, North Eastern Warriors and Pune 7 Aces.

The event, organised by SportzLive under the ageis of Badminton Association of India, will be telecast live on Star Sports and streamed live on Hotstar. Apart from Chennai, the matches will be held in Lucknow and Hyderabad. The final will be held in Hyderabad on February 9.