2017 Macau Open Grand Prix Gold: Saina won 21-23, 21-14, 21-18 against Hana Ramadhini while Kashyap beats Chun-Wei Chen 21-19, 21-8

Top seed Saina Nehwal fought hard to defeat Indonesia's Hanna Ramadini in the first round of Macau Open Grand Prix Gold on Wednesday.
World No. 11 Saina won 21-23, 21-14, 21-18 to world No. 44 Hanna. Saina, who was expected to win the tie easily, was given a reality check by the Indonesian.
In the first game, Saina could not take lead even once as she lost it 21-23. The 2012 London bronze medallist regained composure in the second game and did not give Ramdini any chance.
The third game had the same story as Saina won it comfortably. After PV Sindhu's withdrawal, Saina is the highest-ranked Indian in the tournament.
In men's singles, Commonwealth Games champion Parupalli Kashyap reached the pre-quarterfinals but it was curtains for Hong Kong Super Series finalist Sameer Verma.
Kashyap, who recovered from multiple injuries and then took a break after the Denmark Open to work on his fitness and game, defeated Chinese Taipei's Chun-Wei Chen 21-19, 21-8.
He will take on Chinese Taipei's Lin Yu Hsien next. For young Sameer, who had an exception campaign at Hong Kong last week, failed to break the defence of Muhammad Bayu Pangisthu of Indonesia and lost 18-21 13-21 to bow out of the tournament.
Third seeded men's doubles pair of Manu Attri and B Sumeeth Reddy saw off Hong Kong's Chan Alan Yun Lung and Li Kuen Hon 21-11 17-21 21-9. They will take on Singapore's Danny Bawa Chrisnanta and Hendra Wijaya.
Kashyap, who is back on the circuit after over a month, lead 5-0 early on and then entered the lemon break at 11-7.
However, Chun-Wei led a strong challenge and turned the tables with an eight-point burst. The Indian then slowly and steadily made his way back to reach 16-19 before sealing the opening game with five straight points.
In the second game, Kashyap was very dominant as he broke off as early as 5-5 and never looked back as Chun-Wei crumbled under pressure.

Saina Nehwal Vs Hanna Ramadini Highlights: Indian Advances In Macau Open

Saina Nehwal came from a game down to beat Indonesian shuttler Hanna Ramadini 21-23, 21-14, 21-18 in the first round of the Macau Open on Wednesday.

The 26-year-old Indian won 63 of the total 118 points played during the duel that lasted for an hour and three minutes.

PV Sindhu Qualifies For World Super Series Finals, Saina Nehwal Misses Out

India's sizzling stroke-maker PV Sindhu finished strongly in the last two qualifying events to surge into the prestigious season-ending World Super Series Finals for the first time. The tournament will be played in Dubai from December 14 to 18.
The event features the best eight singles players and doubles pairs of the year's World Super Series tour. And it was not until the last of the 12 stops - Hong Kong Open - that some athletes secured their places in the lucrative $1 million event.
Qualification seemed a distant dream for Sindhu who was 16th in the Destination Dubai Rankings with just two events left. The 21-year-old's victory at the China Open earned her 11,000 points and revived her chances.
However, competition for the last women's singles spot was tight with Sindhu's Indian compatriot Saina Nehwal, Japan's Sayaka Sato and Minatsu Mitani, and Thailand's Porntip Buranaprasertsuk in the reckoning as players gathered in Hong Kong.
When the dust settled, it was near six-footer Sindhu who stood tall, clutching the last plane ticket to Dubai; her runner-up finish at Hong Kong Coliseum seeing her past the other hopefuls.
"I did not think too far ahead. I knew that if I did well, I would qualify for Dubai. I'm looking forward to it," Sindhu said.
"It's an honour to play in Dubai, it's an event that I have always wanted to qualify for. My form is good and hopefully it will continue in Dubai. I'm happy that I did well the last two weeks. I'm a bit upset I didn't win Hong Kong, but Tai (Tzu Ying) played better than me."
It was a bitter-sweet celebration for Indian badminton fans though as former World No.1 Saina fell at the last hurdle in her comeback from knee surgery. Her quarter-final loss in Hong Kong saw her finish ninth overall.
A star-studded field, including 2016 Olympic gold medallist Carolina Marin of Spain will vie for women's singles supremacy. Other qualifiers are Tai Tzu Ying (Chinese Taipei), Japan's Akane Yamaguchi, China's Sun Yu and He Bingjiao, Thailand's Ratchanok Intanon, who blazed to three Super Series titles in three weeks this year, and South Korea's Sung Ji Hyun.
No other Indian, apart from Sindhu, managed to qualify for the tournament across the five formats of the game.

PV Sindhu, Sameer Verma Fail At Final Hurdle In Hong Kong Open

India's hopes of winning twin titles in the Hong Kong Open Super Series were dashed on Sunday when Olympic silver medallist PV Sindhu and national champion Sameer Verma lost their respective final clashes in contrasting fashion in Hong Kong.
Sindhu, aiming for her second successive Super Series title, lost 15-21, 17-21 to Chinese Taipei's Tai Tzu Ying in a 41-minute women's singles clash.
Verma, on the other hand, went down 14-21, 21-10, 11-21 to local favourite Ng Ka Long Angus in a contest which lasted 50 minutes.
It was sweet revenge for Tzu Ying, who had lost to Sindhu most recently in the Rio Olympic Games. She now leads 5-3 in the head-to-head record against the Indian.
World No.3 and fourth seed Tzu Ying was in command of the match from the first game itself and produced a near-perfect all-round performance to be ahead 18-11.
She maintained the lead and grabbed the opening game without much of a trouble. The Indian, on the other hand, was found wanting in her net-play against a swift-moving rival.
The second game was fought on a more even keel with Sindhu stepping it up slightly but once again she struggled to match the pace and range of Tzu Ying's stroke-play.
Tzu Ying's ability to retrieve almost everything that Sindhu threw at her stood out. The Taipei girl's deft use of her wrist to control her shots was also admirable.
However, Sindhu did not let Tzu Ying to simply run away and went neck-and-neck till 10-10.
The Indian took the lead at 11-10 when Tzu Ying mis-hit a smash which landed outside. But Tzu Ying drew level and took the lead soon after the lemon break.
The Indian's much-admired never-say-die spirit kept her afloat for a couple of more points but her inability to break free proved to be the difference.
In the men's singles summit clash, Verma continued to show that he had the heart for a fight but that was just not enough against Angus even though the Indian led 2-0 in their head-to-head record.
Up against the local favourite, Verma was slow off the tracks and lost the first game in just 15 minutes.
However, he roared back in the next game with some fine strokes from the baseline. Angus was distinctly sluggish in this game and conceded a 10-19 lead. Verma did not take his foot off the pedal and drew level to take the match into the third game.
However, the pendulum swung the other way in the decider and it was Angus' turn to raise his game. With a partisan crowd firmly behind him, Angus opened a 7-3 lead.
The gap kept widening as the match progressed and although Verma tried his best to claw back, Angus had the last laugh courtesy his better all-round game.
This was Verma's maiden appearance in a Super Series final.

Hong Kong Open 2016:Saina Nehwal notched a hard-fought 12-21 21-19 21-17 win over Thailand's Porntip Buranaprasertsuk, while PV Sindhu defeated Susanto Yulia Yosephin 21-13, 21-16

Top Indian shuttlers Saina Nehwal and PV Sindhu advanced to the second round of the women's singles competition at the Hong Kong Super Series badminton tournament with contrasting victories in Kowloon on Wednesday.
Saina, on a comeback trail, was the first to take the field and she recorded a hard-fought 12-21 21-19 21-17 win over Thailand's Porntip Buranaprasertsuk in the opening round at the Hong Kong Coliseum.
London Olympics bronze medallist Saina, who had lost to Porntip in the opening round at China Open after making a comeback following a three-month lay-off due to injury, avenged the defeat with her win over the World No. 12 Thai shuttler.
The fifth seeded Indian, who is looking to seal her Dubai Super Series Final spot, will next take on Japan's Sayaka Sato who defeated Chiang Mei Hui of Chinese Taipei.
Sindhu, on the other hand, had an easy outing as she notched up a 21-13 21-16 win over Susanto Yulia Yosephin of Indonesia in 32 minutes.
The Rio Olympics silver medallist Indian hardly broke a sweat in the first game after the two rivals were locked 2-2 early on. Sindhu left his rival way behind after that as she easily took the first game.
The second game was a tight contest with the two opponents refusing to yield an inch to each other. After being levelled at 9-9, Sindhu zoomed ahead at 12-9 but her Indonesian rival fought back to tie the score at 16-16.
Sindhu was in no mood to allow her opponent to come back as she took the next five successive points to take the second game and wrap up the match.
In the second round, Sindhu will take on Hsu Ya Ching of Chinese Taipei, who upset seventh seed Sing Ji Hyun of Korea in the first round.
In men's singles, Swiss Open winner H S Prannoy defeated China's Qiao Bin 21-16 21-18, while national champion Sameer Verma edged past Japan's Takuma Ueda 22-20 21-18 in another first round match.
Ajay Jayaram then beat Anthony Sinisuka Ginting of Indonesia 21-15 13-21 21-16 in a 56-minute contest to move into the second round. He will be up against Huang Yuxiang of China in the second round.
B Sai Praneeth, however, lost to third seed Jan O Jorgensen of Denmark 18-21 18-21.
Men's doubles pair of Manu Attri and B Sumeeth Reddy, who represented India at the Rio Olympics, also suffered a 15-21 8-21 loss to Korean combo of Solgyu Choi and KO Sung Hyun.

PV Sindhu defeated Sun Yu 21-11, 17-21, 21-11 to win China Open, her maiden Super series title.

PV Sindhu, Rio Olympics silver medallist, continued her stellar form as she edged past local favourite Sun Yu to clinch China Open in Fuzhou on Sunday. It is her maiden Super Series title.
Sindhu, who became the toast of the country after becoming the first Indian women to win a silver at Rio Games, continued her rampaging run as she lifted the prestigious title after beating Sun 21-11, 17-21, 21-11 in the summit clash that lasted an hour and nine minutes.
World No. 11 Sindhu had come into the match with a 2-3 head-to-head record but then statistics counted little when she took the court at the Haixia Olympic Sports Center.
Sindhu dished out a dominating game as she zoomed to a healthy 11-5 lead early on. The Indian looked sharp and athletic as she engaged in a fast-paced game to bamboozle her opponent.
Eventually, it was a cross court return which earned Sindhu a massive 12 game points at 20-8. A couple of smashes on Sindhu's forehand and backhand and a drop going to the net helped Sun save three points. But Sindhu sealed the opening encounter after dominating a parallel game and finishing it with a return that hit Sun's face.
In the second game, Sindhu had a slender 6-3 lead which she extended to 11-7 and 14-10. But Sun soon broke the rhythm by mixing her strokes and coming up with steep and powerful body smashes to catch up with the Indian at 14-14.
A sharp smash and a superb return on Sindhu's backhand helped Sun grab a 18-16 lead which became 19-16 after the Indian lost a video referral. At 20-16, Sun hit the nets but she roared back into contest when Sindhu's stretched low return at the forecourt could not cross the net.

Back to her winning side of the court, Sindhu once again started with new exuberance as the duo locked themselves in a battle of supremacy. As a result service changed hands too quickly as they moved together till 6-6.
But Sindhu moved ahead with a couple of powerpacked returns which Sun failed to negotiate. The Chinese also faltered with a lift and also hit wide as Sindhu reached 10-6. A few errors helped Sun make it 8-10 before Sindhu entered the interval with a 11-8 advantage.
Sindhu continued to extend her lead even as Sun tried to vary the pace of the rallies but her errors continued to pile up as the Indian was soon 19-11 up. Sindhu then grabbed the match point when Sun let go of the shuttle as it kissed the back line and then the Indian pushed the shuttle at the back, leaving the Chinese stranded before letting out a joyous scream.
Saina Nehwal had clinched the China Open in 2014 before finishing runners-up last year.
Sindhu had reached her maiden Super Series final at the Denmark Open last year but the title eluded her then as she lost in straight games to 2012 Olympic champion China's Li Xuerei.

China Open Semi-Final PV Sindhu defeated South Korea's Sung Ji Hyun 11-21, 23-21, 21-19 to enter China Open Superseries final

Fuzhou:PV Sindhu, Olympic silver medallist, is just one step away from clinching her maiden Super Series Premier title as she reached the final of the China Open after registering a come from behind win over Korea Sung Ji Hyun at the USD 700,000 tournament in Fuzhou on Saturday.
Seventh seed Sindhu edged out Ji Hyun, seeded sixth, 11-21 23-21 21-19 in a thrilling contest that lasted an hour and 24 minutes here. This was Sindhu's sixth win over Ji Hyun in nine encounters.
The two-time bronze medallist at World Championship, Sindhu will face local favourite Sun Yu, seeded eighth, in the summit clash.
Sindhu was up for a shock in the opening game as she just couldn't match up with the Korean, who dominated the game all throughout after opening a 5-1 lead early on. Ji Hyun kept extending her lead and eventually pocketed the game comfortably.
A jolted Sindhu then came up with a much improved performance in the second game as she locked herself in a battle of supremacy with Ji Hyun, moving neck and neck till 7-7. The Korean changed gears and entered the break with a 11-7 lead.

After the breather, Sindhu erased the deficit with four points but Ji Hyun again managed to march ahead and grab three match points at 20-17. Sindhu saved two match points with some gritty strokes, including an angled drop shot before drawing level. She reached a game point but wasted it before she sealed a long rally with a powerful smash to roar back into the match.
In the decider, Sindhu lagged behind again early on but fought back from 3-7 down to take a slender 10-9 lead but Ji Hyun won a thrilling rally to go into the break with a lead. Ji Hyun moved to a 12-10 lead next after Sindhu's backhand drop went out but the Indian kept breathing down her neck.
A superb forehand from Sindhu and an error from Ji Hyun helped the Indian grab two match points at 20-18. Sindhu eventually sealed it with a superb cross court smash.
Sindhu had reached her maiden Super Series final at the Denmark Open last year but the title eluded her as she lost in straight games to 2012 Olympic champion China's Li Xuerui.

PV Sindhu notched up a 22-20, 21-10 win over He Bingjiao in the quarter-finals of China Open Super Series

Fuzhou:
Olympic silver-medallist PV Sindhu advanced to the semi-finals of China Open after defeating local favourite He Bingjiao in straight games at the USD 700,000 Super Series Premier event in Fuzhou on Friday.
Seventh seed Sindhu notched up a 22-20, 21-10 win over Bingjiao, who has won four titles - Bitburger Open, French Open, Japan Open and Swiss Open - this season in women's singles competition.
The 21-year-old from Hyderabad will take on the winner of the match between Japan's Akane Yamaguchi and sixth seed Sung Ji Hyun, seeded sixth.
Jayaram loses
In men's singles, Ajay Jayaram could not get across the reigning Olympic champion, two-time World champion and All England champion Chen Long of China, suffering a 15-21, 14-21 defeat in a 40-minute clash.
Sindhu lagged behind from the start as Bingjiao took a 5-1 lead early on and despite the Indian breathing down her neck with leads of 7-6, 12-11, 14-12, the Chinese managed to wrest control leading 17-14.

Sindhu kept fighting and moved neck and neck from 17-17 to 20-20, before marching ahead. She closed the 21-minute opening game when Bingjiao sent the shuttle wide.
The left-handed Chinese opened a 2-0 lead in the second game but Sindhu levelled, riding on the errors of Bingjiao. The Indian mixed her strokes well, using tosses and lifts to push her rival at the corners and came up with some sharp smashes and half smashes to lead 7-3.
Sindhu was lucky to get a point at 10-4 when the chair umpire overruled a challenge by the Chinese despite the screen showing the shuttle kissing the line. Bingjiao then hit long again as the Indian entered the break at 11-5.
A tired looking Bingjiao faltered with her length and accuracy of strokes to help Sindhu continue her march ahead to 14-5. Bingjiao grabbed three points before Sindhu broke the rhythm when the Chinese's back hand slice went to net.
A superb back hand smash helped Bingjiao take another point. But the Chinese continued to stumble on errors which included a wide shot that took Sindhu to 17-9, a long serve and a shot going long.
Sindhu sealed the second game in 17 minutes after Bingjiao once again hit long.

PV Sindhu defeated USA's Beiwen Zhang 18-21 22-20 21-17, while Ajay Jayaram edged past Wei Nan of Hong Kong 20-22 21-19 21-12 to make it to the quarterfinals of the China Open

Fuzhou (China):Olympic silver-medallist PV Sindhu and male singles shuttler Ajay Jayaram advanced to the quarterfinals after registering thrilling three-game wins over their respective opponents in the second round of the USD 700,000 China Super Series Premier, in Fuzhou on Thursday.Seventh seeded Sindhu survived a scare from USA's Beiwen Zhang before notching up a 18-21 22-20 21-17 victory in a women's singles match that lasted an hour. The Indian will next take on China's He Bingjiao, against whom she had lost in the second round of the French Open last month.Jayaram too had to work hard to surpass Wei Nan as he notched up a 20-22 21-19 21-12 win over the Hong Kong shuttler in a 56-minute clash.The three-time Dutch Open champion, Jayaram will face reigning Olympic champion and two-time World champion and All England champion Chen Long of China in the next round.However, it was curtains for Swiss Open winner H S Prannoy after he suffered a 17-21 19-21 loss to Qiao Binof China in another men's singles match.B Sai Praneeth had lost his opening round match 16-21 9-21 against Marc Zwiebler of Germany on Wednesday.
Sindhu blew away a 11-7 lead at the break to allow Zhang comeback and level the scores at 13-13. The American soon moved to a 15-13 and 18-15 lead before reeling off the last three points in to pocket the first game.In the second game, Sindhu once again zoomed to a 8-0 lead but once again she squandered the advantage as Zhang clawed back to first level the scores at 16-16. She soon lead 19-17 but the Indian ensured there was no hiccup this time as she roared back into the contest.In the decider, Sindhu held a slender 8-6 lead and then broke off at 9-9 to never look back.It was a tough battle for supremacy as Jayaram's gallant fight in the opening game ended with a narrow loss after he and Wei moved neck and neck from 11-11 to 20-20.In the second game, Jayaram erased a 2-6 deficit to drew parity at 9-9. He moved ahead at 14-11 and despite a challenge from Wei, managed to bounce back into the contest after five straight points.In the decider, Jayaram managed to keep himself at a distance from Wei after opening up a small 7-3 lead. He kept increasing the lead and eventually sealed the issue comfortably.

Saina Nehwal Loses on Comeback; PV Sindhu Wins in China Open

Fuzhou:Saina Nehwal's comeback ended with a gruelling opening round loss but Olympic silver-medallist P V Sindhu crossed the first hurdle at the $700,000 China Super Series Premier in Fuzhou on Wednesday.
Three months after limping out of the Rio Olympics due to a severe knee injury, fourth seed Saina was back on the court but her fight against Thailand's Porntip Buranaprasertsuk ended with a 16-21 21-19 14-21 loss in a women's singles match that lasted for almost an hour.
London Olympics bronze-medallist Saina, who had won the China Open title in 2014 and reached the finals last year, will next play at the Hong Kong Super Series next week.
Seventh seed Sindhu, however, had no problems in disposing off the challenge from Chinese Taipei's Chia Hsin Lee 21-12 21-16 in just 34 minutes. The two-time bronze medallist at World Championship will next take on USA's Beiwen Zhang.

In men's singles, Ajay Jayaram and H S Prannoy also reached the second round after notching up contrasting wins over their respective opponents in the opening round.
World No. 23 Jayaram dished out a gritty performance as he staved off the challenge from China's Zhu Siyuan and prevailed 21-19 20-22 21-17 in a match that lasted for an hour and two minutes.
He will next take on the winner of the match between Hong Kong's Wei Nan and sixth seeded Korean Son Wan Ho.
World No. 28 Prannoy got rid of Hong Kong's NG Ka Long Angus 21-13 21-13 in another match. The Swiss Open champion will face the winner of the match between Chinese Taipei's Chou Tien Chen, seeded seventh, and China's Qiao Bin.

Kidambi Srikanth Looks to Regain Top 10 Spot

Eyeing a comeback at Macau Open following an injury lay-off, shuttler K Srikant said the initial tournaments would be crucial to get the confidence back as he aims to regain his place in the top 10.

A former World No. 3, Srikanth slipped out of the top 10 in March this year. He reached the quarterfinals at Rio 2016 and then played at the Japan Super Series where he injured his right ankle.

"It was a small injury. It's okay now. I will be playing the Macau Open. I'm skipping China and Hong Kong. I have started training this week, I have to step up the training gradually. I don't want to push myself too much, don't want to do things hurriedly," said Srikanth, who had clinched the 2014 China Open and 2015 India Open.

"I have to keep working. It is tough to be at the highest level consistently so we have to keep working hard and I have been able to play well but sometimes I could not finish matches the way I want to. I have to work much more harder and I hope the comeback will be better.

"I am not thinking about the ranking. I just want to come back strong and perform well. The initial tournaments are really important to get back the confidence. If I play a few events and do well then I have a good chance of coming back into the top 8," said the Indian, currently ranked World No. 13th.

Playing his maiden Olympics, Srikanth had conjured up hopes of reaching the semifinals before losing narrowly to Chinese legend Lin Dan at Rio.

Asked if he has got over the loss, Srikanth, who had beaten Lin Dan at 2014 China Open final, said: "Ya, kind off."

"We play 12 Super Series events in a year and if you lose early in one, you still know that there is another tournament but for Olympics, it comes every four years and you give your heart out in the tournament, so it was really hard for me to take the loss because I had lost at a close margin. So I didn't talk to anybody then, I wanted to take some time off.

"But anyways, that's how the sport goes. We can't expect to win all the time. One has to win and one has to loss. What is important is to comeback hard. If you lose against a particular opponent, you really want to win the next time. You need to train mind to comeback really hard. I was happy with the way I played at Japan but then there was some injury and it aggravated," he said.

The 23-year-old from Guntur said he has to plan his schedule better from next year so that he can maintain a balance between training and competing at the circuit.

"It is always very tricky when to take a break. The timing is crucial because you can't really skip tournaments where you have played well in them last year. May be next year I can plan a little more keeping everything in mind, with all the experience that I got this year," he said.

"Before the Olympics I had to rush because of the ranking so had to play many events. After the Olympics I have been choosing but then I had this injury. Next year I have so many options of choosing tournaments."

Srikanth also feels the top 20 in men's singles are almost at the same level.

"In men's singles, I think all the top 20 are playing well. If you see the last top four tournaments there are different winners, I think it is equally balanced. It is just how well you play on that particular day. Everyone is almost there," Srikanth said.

The Badminton World Federation (BWF) is testing an 11-point best of five format in the scoring system.

"I haven't played the 11-point format. So can't really say the difference much. But I guess it is upto them. If they really implement it then nobody can do anything about it. But that's how it was when the format was shifted from 15 to 21 format. Every one has to get adjusted to it," he said.

Srikanth emerged as the costliest Indian buy at the recent Player's auction when he bought for Rs 51 lakhs by the Awadhe Warriors for the second edition of the Premier badminton League.

"It will be different. The level will be high this time. There are 16 Olympains participating this year. We will have more tough matches than the last time. I hope we do well as a team," he said

In PBL 2017 auction Injured World No. 6 Saina Nehwal didn’t set the floor abuzz, went for her base price; Olympic champ Caroline Marin goes for Rs 61.5 lakh.

t’s generally too risky to read much into an auction of a league. It’s unscientific and often ego-driven; there is no method to madness. Yet, it was difficult to not draw conclusions from Premier Badminton League (PBL) auctions. For, it provided the first hint of a change in status quo of Indian badminton.When Saina Nehwal’s name was drawn from the lot by auctioneer Bob Hayton, many expected the six teams to indulge in a bidding war, like they had last year. Back then, Saina went for Rs 65 lakh, which made her the highest-paid player in the league.

On Wednesday, minutes before Saina’s name popped up, the teams had battled hard for reigning Olympic and world champion Carolina Marin. Hyderabad Hunters and Delhi Acers tried to out-bid each other. Eventually, the Spaniard was picked by the Hyderabad team for Rs 61. 5 lakh. Surprisingly enough, though, not even one team owner lifted the paddle when the auctioneer called for bids for Saina. They waited, and waited a little more. But the owners sat poker-faced. At a base price Rs 33 lakh, she went unsold. The awkwardness in the hall was palpable as Saina, India’s top-ranked player, went to the reserve pool (she was later retained by Awadhe Warriors at her base price).

But the mood would soon change. PV Sindhu is Indian badminton’s latest darling, and as the owners would later admit, they were trying to keep some money in reserve for her. The Rio Olympics silver medallist was the biggest draw. But as luck would have it, Sindhu’s name would feature only toward the end and by then, most teams had run out of money.

Ultimately, Sindhu was retained by Chennai Smashers for Rs 39 lakh – six more than Saina but a lot less than what Marin fetched. “We were ready to pay the highest permissible amount that an icon player can fetch, that is Rs 65 lakhs for her (Sindhu) as we really wanted to retain her in our team and so we didn’t bid for other players and I think in the end we were lucky to get her for Rs 39 lakhs,” Chennai owner Vijay Prabhakaran said.

Upinder Zutshi, the owner of the Delhi team, said one of the reasons teams did not bid for Saina could be that she didn’t fit in their plans. “It would have been great to have one big Indian star but we also have to see how to balance the team in the budget we have,” Zutshi said.

It wasn’t just about money. The most enduring rivalry of the tournament – which the broadcasters and

organisers – have milked so far was between Saina and Sindhu. But the script has changed following Sindhu’s podium finish and Saina’s first-round exit in Rio. On Wednesday, it was all about Sindhu and Marin and the repeat of the Olympic final. The organisers, team owners and broadcasters were all convinced the league’s biggest draw would be the re-match between players who – as per some ratings agencies – drew nearly 17 million viewers.

Saina, on whom the success of any league or tournament in India hinged so far, was not even an afterthought.

The injury she has been recuperating from since August may have been a contributing factor. An owner said they weren’t still sure of her participation in the league that begins from January 1, even though she hopes to return at the China Open next week.

Recovering from a surgery she underwent on her right knee, the World No. 6 has said earlier this week that she is fit to return after two months of rehab. Awadhe team chief Abhishek Sarkar tried to downplay the issue. “Saina was our player last year as well. If any team would have bid for her, we would have matched their offer as per the rules and retained her. Luckily for us, no one did so it’s good for us,” Sarkar said.

Sindhu, too, did not dwell into it much. “There is always some different rivalry and I enjoy that,” she said. “Everybody is talking about me vs Carolina this time. It will be a good match and I am looking forward to it,” Sindhu said.

AUCTION REPLAY 

154 players went under the hammer but only 50 were acquired by the six teams — shelling out Rs 1.93 crore each.The base price for the highest bracketed players, the icons, was Rs 33 lakh while the next best were earmarked at Rs 17 lakh.

Reigning Olympic and world champ, Carolina Marin fetched the highest price, being picked up by Hyderabad Hunters for Rs 61.5 lakh.Among Indians, K Srikanth was the top earner. He was bagged by Awadhe Warriors for Rs 51 lakh.