Indiranagar Badminton League a smashing success

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Bengaluru, September 25: Curtains came down on the inaugural Indiranagar Badminton League (IBL) last Saturday (September 23) with SVM Turbos reigning supreme and JP Tornados finishing as the runners-up.

Four teams - Turbos, Tornados, IIHT Mavericks, and Golden Panthers - battled it out for top honours in the IBL which had Maruthi Group as its main sponsor and Yonex, DSR Infrastructure Pvt Ltd, Hotel Ajantha and Bootlegger Restaurant on board as other sponsors.

Turbos beat Tornados 6-5 in the final while Mavericks defeated Panthers by an identical scoreline in the third-place play-off tie.

Yonex provided the shuttles and sponsored kit bags for the winners and T-shirts for the runner-up and third-place team.

All the four teams had 29 players each in the four-day tournament, including a mentor who was in charge of team selection and strategy. The competitions were held in seven categories.

Teams played each other in a round-robin format over three days with the title clash and third-place play-off round tie held on the final day on September 23.

Turbos won a lion's share of the individual awards too with Abhishek (MVP Icon), Aditya Bharghav (MVP Category A), Hitaish Lokesh (MVP Category B), and Faizal Khan (MVP Categrory D) hogging the limelight.

Tornados were not left far behind as Sneha (MVP Ladies), Ojas Mishra, Chandraditya Putrevu (MVK Kids), Arun Murthy (MVP Category C) won the individual honours.

Meanwhile, Mavericks' Lalitha Gowda won Commissioner's Special Award.

Buoyed by the smashing success of the inuagural IBL, the organisers are even contemplating having leagues in other sports in which the club has a strong presence.

"That's something we can think about in future. A good beginning has been made with badminton and other sports can follow the suit," said Tournament Director Neeraj Mishra, a former national player.

While close-fought contests were the order of the day, the festive atmosphere inside the Indiranagar Club courts added more fervour to the tournament.

"A whiff of fresh air and bonhomie was prevalent all through these four days. It wasn't just about the game. Those who turned out to watch the matches enjoyed the time with their friends and families," said Kalyan Mohan, a key member of the organising committee.