Hyderabad: Prasad Mangipudi, executive director of Sportzlive, which organises the Premier Badminton League under the aegis of the Badminton Association of India (BAI), on Monday in an exclusive interview with ETV Bharat shared his vision regarding the future of PBL in India.
Talking about PBL, Mangipudi said, "It has become a nursery for shuttlers. It is not easy to start something new in India. But we were given full support. And now we can proudly say that PBL is the world biggest league (badminton). Top players from across the globe participate in this league."
When Mangipudi was asked about the big names which gave the ongoing edition of the league a miss, he said, "It is the year of Olympics. The Summer Games are played in every four years. And that is why players want to be fit to take part in the biggest event. For example, Indian shuttler Saina Nehwal has not qualified for the Olympics yet and she needs time to do that. But PV Sindhu and B. Sai Praneeth have qualified for the mega event. and that's why they are participating and Saina is not."
Talking about adding PBL to BWF's calendar year, Mangipudi said, "India is not the only country or badminton is not the only sports to have a league like this. There is the NBA for basketball players. English Premier League is there for football players. Everywhere in the world, different sports league are nurturing young talents."
Speaking about the future of the league, Prasad said that after PBL, now they want to start regional badminton leagues.
