Saina Nehwal on PBL: It is always good to see so many players at one place
Saina Nehwal lavished praise on the Premier Badminton League which has given Indian shuttlers a new platform to show their talent and has also taught a sense of ‘team bonding’ to budding youngsters. Nehwal will be a part of new franchise, North Eastern Warriors, for the 2018-19 season of the PBL.
The 2018-19 season of the Pro Badminton League is set to start on December 22 and will go on till the end of January. This season will see two new franchise’s join the existing seven teams in a bid to expand the league. The likes of top players like Saina Nehwal, PV Sindhu, P Kashyap, Kidambi Srikanth, Sameer Verma and others will go head-to-head against each other over the course of the month.
Ace Indian shuttler, Saina Nehwal, in her column for TOI, wrote about how the tournament helped youngsters cope up with the increasing pressure on the badminton court. The former world number one also added that the PBL helped Indian players develop a sense of ‘team bonding.’
"Badminton is mostly labelled as an individual sport. But is it restricted to the individual alone? The doubles event is equally important and India have had some encouraging results in doubles in recent times, the most notable being Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponnappa winning the bronze in the World Badminton Championships some years back.
"The club environment was always missing and that’s where the PBL has played its part. There are always so many takeaways from a team game. It is always good to see so many players at one place as it's a bonus for fans to watch each one," Nehwal wrote in her column for TOI.
The three-time CWG gold medalist further added that the invaluable experience brought by foreign players will serve as an important factor in the development of the sport in the country.
"Very often I am asked as to whether we get to make friends in the international circuit. The slogan at the circuit stays simple — 'Why do you need friends? Play to win.' But at the PBL, we get to meet and greet during meals, practice sessions, even while travelling. Bonding stays the quintessential part. PBL paves way for knowledge transfer. We get to learn so many finer aspects from foreign players," she concluded.
The North Eastern Warriors bought Saina in the auction for a whopping Rs 80 lakh, where the 2012 Olympic bronze medallist was one of the icon players.
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