Sindhu to take on Saina in PBL opener

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Guwahati, Dec 20: The third Premier Badminton League (PBL) kicks off at the Karmabir Nabin Chandra Bordoloi AC Indoor Stadium here on Saturday (December 23) with defending champions Chennai Smashers' PV Sindhu taking on Awadhe Warriors' Saina Nehwal in a marquee clash.

Sindhu, the current world No 3, holds a 2-1 edge in her recent meetings against Saina, with her only loss coming in a riveting Senior National Championship finale held at Nagpur last month.

On the eve of the league opener, Sindhu said, "I'm looking forward to our opening match against Awadhe Warriors. It is not just my match against Saina, every match will be tough as there are some really strong teams out there. The competition is going to be really good."

With world No 1 in both men's and women's singles, eight 2017 World Championship medallists, nine Olympic medallists (including three multiple medal winners) competing in this edition, the league is easily the best among Olympic disciplines in the country.

Saina herself is counting on that to begin her team's campaign on a high note. "We have made it to the knock-out stages of all the editions so far. It was nothing but bad luck that prevented us from winning the trophy," she pointed out.

"But we are upbeat about our chances in this edition and will give it our all to bring the trophy home," the 2017 World championship bronze medallist added.

The 23-day long PBL has carefully been laid out, with the only tie lined up each day at the prime time to give the players and teams enough time to recover for their next encounter.

Every day there will be one battle between two teams comprising five matches -- men's, women's singles, men's doubles, women's doubles and mixed doubles.

Each match will be a three-game affair of 15 points. If scores are tied 14-14, the team scoring the 15th point first will win that game.

After four days of intense battles in Guwahati the bandwagon shifts to Delhi.

Delhi will see five ties, with the Delhi Dashers enjoying the benefit of playing two matches at home. They will hope to pick up maximum points against Bengaluru Blasters and Hyderabad Hunters to make it at least to the semifinals this year.

The next stop will be the 'City of Nawabs' Lucknow. Victor Axelson's Bengaluru Blasters will clash with San Wan- Ho's Mumbai Rockets to ring in the New Year. Four ties have been slotted here, giving North Eastern Warriors and Hyderabad Hunters a solid four-day break.

The PBL will move to the warmer climes of Chennai on January 5 for the penultimate leg. The battles are expected to reach fever-pitch by then, with every team scrambling for points and a place in the knockout stage.

After an intense five-day stint, the players will shift to Hyderabad on January 10. Only two ties have been lined up here, with the Dashers meeting the Warriors and the Hunters the Blasters.

The semifinals will take place on January 12 and 13 followed by the final, which will be held the very next day, on January 14.

KEY FIGURES

8 current World Championship medalists

9 Olympic Medalists (including three multiple medal winners)

World No. 1 in both Men's singles and Women's singles

Prize Money: INR 6 Cr

Duration of tournament: 23 days

The match starts at 7pm and will be shown live on Star Sports Networks