The third season of the Premier Badminton League (PBL) is all set to kick start in Guwahati on December 23.
The opening match which will be held in Guwahati's Karmabir Nabin Chandra Bordoloi Indoor Stadium, Sarusajai and will witness defending champions Chennai Smashers meeting Awadhe Warriors - a clash between India’s top two shuttle queens, PV Sindhu and Saina Nehwal.
It may be mentioned that Chennai led by Sindhu clinched the title in the second season of PBL, held in January.
The pan-Indian league will be hosted in five cities this time, with Delhi, Lucknow, Chennai, and Hyderabad being the others. Hyderabad will get the honour to host both the semi-finals as well as the final. The 23-day event will see one match taking place every day with it culminating into the grand finale on January 14.
The third edition of PBL will also see the 11-point format make way for 15 point format.
The league, which offers a prize purse of Rs 6 Crore was a six team competition last year with Delhi Acers (Delhi), Mumbai Rockets (Mumbai), Awadhe Warriors (Lucknow), Hyderabad Hunters (Hyderabad), Chennai Smashers (Chennai) and Bengaluru Blasters (Bengaluru) however this year’s season will feature two new teams – Ahmedabad Smash Masters and North Eastern Warriors – bringing the total to eight competing teams. Also, the Delhi team previously known as Delhi Acers will feature as Delhi Dashers.
Further, the season boasts of eight current World Championship medalists, nine Olympic medalists and 16 players in the top-10 of world ranking.