Eight players hit jackpot

PV Sindhu and Carolina Marin were the most sought after players in the Vodafone Premier Badminton League auctions on Monday but by the end of the day Saina Nehwal and Kidambi Srikanth ensured they too end up on the highest money bracket. All four fetched Rs 80 lakh each.

The auction of the nine-team league, which begins from December 22-January 13, saw eight out of nine icon players going for a maximum cap of Rs 80 lakh.

Sindhu, the Olympic silver medallist, was picked by Hyderabad Hunters, who were happy to buy the “local princess” in their team. With all the players back into the pool for fresh bidding this year, Hunters had no regrets losing Marin to debutants Pune 7 Aces.

However, Saina, who had represented the Awadhe Warriors in the last three editions, went unsold in the first round. The possibility of her marriage with fellow shuttler P Kashyap, bought by Chennai Smashers for Rs five lakh, on December 16, might have posed a mild deterrent. But North Eastern Warriors confirmed her availability and bought her for Rs 80 lakh.

World No 6 Srikanth was among the highest paid men in the PBL when he was picked by Bengaluru Raptors for Rs 80 lakh.

Meanwhile, teen sensation Lakshya Sen was bought by Pune for Rs 11 lakh.

India’s doubles star Ashwini Ponnappa was bought by Awadhe Warriors for Rs 32 lakh.

Squad and price: Bengaluru Raptors: Men’s singles: K Srikanth (80 lakh), B Sai Praneeth (32 lakh), Mithun Manjunath (2 lakh), Nygun Tein Minh (6 lakh); Women’s singles: Vu Thi Trang (9 lakh); Men’s doubles: Hendra Setiawan (42 lakh), Marcus Ellis (20 lakh), Mohammad Ahsan (42 lakh); Mixed doubles: Lauren Smith (20 lakh), Sanjana Santosh (2 lakh).

Hyderabad Hunters: Men’s Singles: Lee Hyun Il (60 lakh), Rahul Yadav Chittaboina (3 lakh), Mark Caljouw (7 lakh); Women’s Singles: PV Sindhu (80 lakh), Sai Uttejitha Rao (1 lakh); Men’s Doubles: Kim Sa Rang (45 lakh), Arun George (1 lakh), Bodin Issara (21 lakh); Mixed Doubles: Eom Hey Won (37 lakh), Meghana Jakkampudi (3 lakh)

Mumbai Rockets: Men’s Singles: Sameer Verma (42lakh ), Andres Antonsen (55lakh ), Pratul Joshi (1lakh); Women’s Singles: Shriyanshi Pardeshi (1lakh ), Anura Prabhudesai (1lakh), Men’s Doubles: Manu Attri (18lakh ), Lee Yong Dae (80lakh ), Kim Gi Jung (45 lakh); Mixed Doubles: Pia Zebadiah (15lakh ), Kuhoo Garg (2 lakh)

North Eastern Warriors: Men’s singles: Tanongsak Saensomboonsuk (20lakh ), Tian Houwei (32lakh ), AS Siril Verma (3lakh ); Women’s singles: Saina Nehwal (80lakh ), Rituparna Das (6lakh ), Men’s doubles: Yoo Yeon Seong (49lakh ), Liao Min Chun (20lakh ), Dhruv Kapila (1lakh); Mixed doubles: Kim Ha Na (40lakh ), Kukkapalli Maneesha (1lakh )

Pune 7 Aces: Men’s singles: Brice Leverdoez (20lakh ), Lakshya Sen (11 lakh), Sony Dwi Kuncoro (10lakh ), Ajay Jayaram (10 lakh); Women’s singles: Carolina Marin (80 lakh), Line Kjaersfeldt (31 lakh); Men’s doubles: Vladimir Ivonov (17 lakh), Mathias Boe (50 lakh), Chirag Shetty (14 lakh); Mixed doubles: Prajakta Sawant (3lakh )

Chennai Smashers: Men’s singles: P Kashyap (5 lakh), Chong Wei Feng (14 lakh), Rajiv Ouseph (24 lakh); Women’s Singles: Sung Ji Hyun (80 lakh), Saili Rane (1 lakh), Men’s Doubles: Or Chin Chung (15 lakh), Chris Adcock (54 lakh), B Sumeeth Reddy (10 lakh); Mixed doubles: Gabrielle Adcock (36 lakh ), Rutaparna Panda (2 lakh)

Ahmedabad Smash Masters: Men’s singles: Sourabh Verma (16 lakh), Viktor Axelsen (80 lakh), Daren Liew (33 lakh); Women’s singles: Kirsty Gilmour (26 lakh), Vaishnavi Bhale (1 lakh), Men’s doubles: Lee Chun Hei Reginald (18 lakh), Satwiksairaj Rankireddy (52 lakh), K Nandagopal (1 lakh); Mixed doubles: Sikki Reddy (29 lakh), Anoushka Parikh (3 lakh).

Awadhe Warriors: Men’s singles: Guru Sai Dutt (7 lakh), Son Wan Ho (70 lakh), Lee Dong Keun (36 lakh); Women’s singles: Rasika Raje (2 lakh), Beiwen Zhang (39 lakh), Men’s doubles: Lee Yang (31 lakh), MR Arjun (5 lakh), Mathias Christiansen (37 lakh); Mixed doubles: Ashwini Ponnappa (32 lakh), Sanyogita Ghorpade (1 lakh).

Delhi Dashers: Men's singles: HS Prannoy (80), Chirag Sen (1), Tommy Sugiarto (70); Women’s Singles: Evgeniya Kosetskaya (5), Men’s Doubles: Chai Biao (42), Maneepong Jongjit (23), Wang Sijie (15), Vighnesh Devlekar (1); Mixed Doubles: Lee Chia Hsin (20), V Harika (1).