Hyderabad to host Premier Badminton League 2 opening ceremony

Hyderabad will host the opening ceremony of the Premier Badminton League season 2 on January 1, 2017 while the final is scheduled to be held here on Janauary 14, the organisers announced.

The event features six teams vying for a prize purse of Rs 6 crore and will see Hyderabad Hunters and Chennai Smashers kickoff the season at the Sports Authority of Andhra Pradesh, Hyderabad. The tie is being billed as the clash of titans with Olympic champion Carolina Marin (Hyderabad) and Olympic silver medalist PV Sindhu going against each other on the opening day.

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 Bangalore leg as well as be the home stadium of Chennai Smashers. Chennai has not been included in the schedule this year due to unavoidable circumstances.

"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," Atul Pande, the Managing Director of SportzLive said.

The most coveted Badminton League in the country, PBL will then come to the capital for the last league match before hosting the semifinals (January 12 and 13) and the grand finale of January 14. "We are excited to bring the PBL season 2 which is bigger, better and more exciting than the previous edition.

"With the kind of line-up that we have for this year's edition, it has indeed given a rise to the popularity of the league even before it started. And it has been overwhelming to see the kind of response we have received so far in terms of ticket sales and we are expecting a full house at every venue," Prasad Mangipudi, director of SportzLive said.

Detailed schedule:

Jan 1: (Hyderabad) Hyderabad Hunters v/s Chennai Smashers, (Hyderabad) Bengaluru Blasters v/s Delhi Acers

Jan 2: (Hyderabad) Awadhe Warriors v/s Hyderabad Hunters

Jan 3: (Mumbai) Bengaluru Blasters v/s Chennai Smashers, (Mumbai) Delhi Acers v/s Mumbai Rockets

Jan 4: (Mumbai) Hyderabad Hunters v/s Mumbai Rockets

Jan 5: (Lucknow) Awadhe Warriors v/s Delhi Acers

Jan 6: (Lucknow) Awadhe Warriors v/s Mumbai Rockets

Jan 7: (Bangalore) Bengaluru Blasters v/s Hyderabad Hunters

Jan 8: (Bangalore) Delhi Acers v/s Chennai Smashers, (Bangalore) Bengaluru Blasters v/s Mumbai Rockets

Jan 9: (Bangalore) Awadhe Warriors v/s Bengaluru Blasters

Jan 10: (Bangalore) Mumbai Rockets v/s Chennai Smashers

Jan 11: (Bangalore) Awadhe Warriors v/s Chennai Smashers

Jan 12: (Delhi) Delhi Acers v/s Hyderabad Hunters

Jan 13: (Delhi) Semifinal 1, (Delhi) Semifinal 2

Jan 14: (Delhi) Final