Celebrities pick up racquets for badminton league

After cricket leagues, it is time for badminton to get endorsement from celebrities. With Puneeth Rajkumar as brand ambassador and Diganth as captain, Karnataka Alps is the team of Sandalwood actors who will compete in the Celebrity Badminton League 2016.

Yogesh, Indrajit Lankesh, Ravi Chetan, Arjun, Jagadish, Sangavi, Aindrita Ray, Kavitha Lankesh, Sindhu Lokanath and Krishi are the other actors and directors in the team.

South Indian teams
Celebrity Badminton League (CBL) was launched in 2015 and was initially restricted to the Tamil movie industry. This year, teams with celebrities from the Malayalam, Kannada, Tamil and Telugu movie industries have been formed.

Actor Sangavi Kavya Ramesh, a badminton lover, co-owns the team along with Justin Samuel James, director Alpha Digitech Company. A franchise of CBL, Karnataka Alps is named after the mountain range to signify the heights the team will achieve.

The celebrity players will be coached by Vijay Lancy, CEO of Prakash Padukone Sports Management.

Speaking at the launch on Thursday, Puneeth Rajkumar said, “Badminton has been my favourite sport since childhood. We used to play the game during family trips.”

He added that Olympic silver medallist P V Sindhu is a motivation for everyone, especially girls, to pursue sports seriously. Excited about playing in the league, he said he would make time in between his busy shooting schedule to practise.

Practice matches have already begun at the Vijayanagar Club and they will continue till the league begins with the first match in Chennai on September 18. The match in Bengaluru is scheduled for October 8 and the finals will be held in Kuala Lumpur on November 12.

Promoting the sport
Besides generating revenue, the owners hope that celebrity endorsement will popularise the sport. Part of the earnings will also be contributed to social causes.
DH News Service