World number one shuttler Carolina Marin was the most expensive buy at the player auction for the second edition of the Premier Badminton League, starting 1 January, 2017.
The defending Olympic champion trumped the likes of Women's singles silver medallist and local heroes PV Sindhu, Saina Nehwal and Denmark's Jan O Jorgensen as she was bought by Hyderabad Hunters for a whopping price of $92,615 (INR 61,50,000).
While Sindhu was retained by Chennai Smashers for $58,725 (INR 39,00,000) by Chennai Smashers, Saina Nehwal, who is eyeing a comeback after her knee injury in the upcoming China Open Superseries, went unsold in the first round of the auction before being retained by Awadhe Warriors.
However, the match-up between Marin and Sindhu, a repeat of the Rio Olympic Women's singles final, is among the highly anticipated clashes in the six-team tournament, which will be devoid of top-ranked male shutters, Lee Chong Wei, Lin Dan and Chen Long.
Also, Sung Ji-Hyun surprised a few when she was sold for the second-highest price $90,347 (INR 60,00,000) 2016 runners-up Mumbai Rockets. Notably, the South Korean crashed out of the Rio Games after losing her quarter-final to Marin.
Jan O Jorgensen was the costliest Men's singles player as he was added to defending champions Delhi Aces roster for a sum of $88,841 (INR 59,00,000). The Dane's compatriot Viktor Axelsen joined Bengaluru Blasters, who have an impressive line-up consisting the likes of Boonsak Ponsana and Porntip Buranaprasertsuk.
India's top-ranked shuttler Kidambi Srikanth also pocketed big money as Warriors paid $76,795 (INR 51,00,000) for his services.
Among other notable purchases was Tommy Sugiarto of Indonesia, who bagged the last season's Most Valuable Player, headed south and will ply his trade with the smashers in the upcoming edition.
Here is the complete team list of PBL 2, which will be held from 1-14 January, 2017.
Awadhe Warriors: Saina Nehwal, V Shem Goh, Srikanth Kidambi, Savitree Amitrapai, Wong Wing Ki Vincent, Rituparna Das, Bodin Isara, Markis Kido, Prajakta Sawant, Aditya Joshi
Bengaluru Blasters: Viktor Axelsen, Yoo Yeon Seong, Boonsak Ponsana, Porntip Buranaprasertsuk, Boonsak Ponsana, Ruthvika Gadde, Sourabh Verma, Pranaav Chopra, Ko Sung Hyun, Sikki Reddy,
Chennai Smashers: P V Sindhu, Tommy Sugiarto, Gabby Adcock, Tanongsak S, P Kashyap, Chris Adcock, Mads Pieler Kolding, B Sumeeth Reddy, Ramya Tulasi, Arundhati Pantawane
Delhi Aces: Jan o Jorgensen, Son Wan Ho, Jwala Gutta, Nithchaon Jindapol, Ivan Sozonov, Vladimir Ivanov, Akshay Dewalkar, K Maneesha, Akarshi Kashyap, Siril Verma
Hyderabad Hunters: Carolina Marin, Wee Kiong Tan, Chau Hoi Wah, Rajiv Ouseph, Sai Praneeth, Satwik Sairaj, Sameer Verma, Krishna Priya, Meghna J, Tan Boon Heong
Mumbai Rockets: Sung Ji Hyun, Lee Yong Dae, Nadiezda Zieba, Ajay Jayaram, Prannoy HS, Nipitphon Phusnhphupet, Manu Atri, Abhishek Yelegar, Vrushali G, Mohita Sehdev
