Badminton as a sport is on a rise in India thanks to an impressive performance by PV Sindhu, Saina Nehwal and Kidambi to name a few, badminton is now getting a national recognition and people are actually taking the sport seriously which evident with the various league coming up in the country.

The Masters Badminton League which will commence from November will feature eight teams— Haryana Achievers, Fiery Feathers, Hyderabad Nawabs, Smasher Kings, Mumbai Masters, Himachal Bulls, Devbhoomi Smashers and Vibrant Shuttlers. The matches will be played at Tau Devi Lal Stadium in Panchkula in which senior player from all over the country will participate. The league is being organized by the Badminton Association of India (BAI) and Haryana Badminton Association and Haryana Badminton Association.

 “This tournament will give an opportunity to the master badminton players to showcase their talent and players who are registered with BAI and are playing at the district, state, national and international level will be eligible to take part in the auction for the eight teams. The league will be played on a round-robin basis and knock-out basis in semi-finals and finals,” said Vinay Bhalla, the organising secretary of the league.

The players for the league have been registered on the official website http://www.mblindia.com. More than 450 players from all over India have registered for the league. Each team will consist of 16 players and the auction for the players will be held on October 2 in Chandigarh.

“The winning team will be awarded a cash prize of Rs 2.5 lakh and the runners-up team will get a prize money of Rs 1 lakh. The semi-finalists team will also get a prize money of Rs 50,000 each. The players who will not be selected by any of the franchise can take part in the doubles tournament along with the league,” said Gurpreet Singh, president, MBL.