Current season, competition or edition: 2025 Premier Badminton League | |
Formerly | Indian Badminton League |
---|---|
Sport | Badminton |
Founded | 2016 |
Administrator | Badminton Association of India |
No. of teams | 9 |
Country | India |
Most recent champion(s) | Bengaluru Raptors (2020) |
Most titles | Bengaluru Raptors (2018–19, 2020) |
TV partner(s) | List of broadcasters |
Streaming partner(s) | Jio Cinema |
Sponsor(s) | Star Sports |
Tournament format | |
Official website | Website |
2025 Premier Badminton League |
Premier Badminton League, aka PBL, is a team badminton league operating in India. It was launched in 2016 and is one of the top badminton leagues in the world. [1] It features nine state or city-based franchise teams and the top Indian and international badminton talent. The league has reached an audience of more than 100 million through television, on-ground support, and social media. As of 2024, the league has hosted 5 seasons. [2]
The first season of PBL was held from 2 to 17 January 2016. Delhi Dashers, formerly Delhi Acers, defeated Mumbai Rockets in the final to clinch the title. The second season began on 22 December 2016 and came to end on 14 January 2017 with the Chennai Smashers headed by P. V. Sindhu clinching the title in the finals. The third season began on 23 December 2017 and came to end on 14 January 2018 with Hyderabad Hunters headed by Carolina Marín emerging as the champions. Bengaluru Raptors won the last two editions in 2018-19 and 2020, becoming the only team to win the title twice.
Teams play each other in round-robin format in league stage. Each team plays six ties in the league stage in which each tie consists of five matches. The matches played are two Men's singles, Women's singles, Men's doubles and Mixed doubles. Each of these matches are best of 3 games. [3] Teams earn one point for each regular match win; in addition, each team must choose a Trump match, where a win is worth two points, and a loss subtracts one point. [4] After league stage, the top four teams in the table will qualify for the knockout stage. The winners of semi-finals goes into the final, in which the winner will be crowned the PBL champions.
The player auctions are usually held at the end of each year for the subsequent season. Professional players from around the world enter the bidding where teams buy them. [5] The league has helped players more than double their annual earnings from prize money in the year 2018. [6] As per Danish player Victor Axelsen, this was a crucial part of their annual income. [7] Each franchise has a purse of ₹2 crore (US$240,000) and the maximum a team can spend on a single player was ₹77 lakh (US$92,000) in the most recent 2020 auction. [8]
The fifth season auctions were held on 26 November 2019 in New Delhi. [9] Each franchise had a purse of ₹2 crore (US$240,000), and were not allowed to spend more than ₹77 lakh (US$92,000) on a single player. [8] [9] The highest paid players were the Taiwanese Tai Tzu-ying and Indian P. V. Sindhu, both sold for the maximum amount of ₹77 lakh (US$92,000) to Bengaluru Raptors and Hyderabad Hunters respectively. Indian doubles player Satwiksairaj Rankireddy was the next highest, bought for ₹62 lakh (US$74,000) by Chennai Superstarz. [10]
2020 being the Olympic year, key players like Saina Nehwal, Kidambi Srikanth, Carolina Marín, Victor Axelsen and others have decided to skip the season. [11] [12]
Some of the players were traded between Mumbai, Chennai and Pune teams ahead of the season. [13]
Currently seven teams compete in the badminton league. [14] Previously, there were nine teams, during 2018–19. [15] [14] [10] [13]
Team | City | Highest Paid Male | Highest Paid Female | Home Ground | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Hyderabad Hunters | Hyderabad | Sourabh Verma | P. V. Sindhu | Gachibowli Indoor Stadium | |
Bengaluru Raptors | Bangalore | B. Sai Praneeth | Tai Tzu-ying | Koramangala Indoor Stadium | |
Awadhe Warriors | Lucknow | Ko Sung-hyun | Beiwen Zhang | Babu Banarasi Das Indoor Stadium | |
Mumbai Rockets | Mumbai | Kim Gi-jung | Pia Zebadiah Bernadet | Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel Indoor Stadium | |
Chennai Superstarz | Chennai | Satwiksairaj Rankireddy | Jessica Pugh | Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium | |
Northeastern Warriors | Guwahati | Lee Cheuk Yiu | Kim Ha-na | Karmabir Nabin Chandra Bordoloi Indoor Stadium | |
Pune 7 Aces | Pune | Hendra Setiawan | Gabby Adcock | Shree Shiv Chhatrapati Sports Complex |
In 2016, the league was renamed from Indian Badminton League to Premier Badminton League, and still followed same format. This first season of the PBL started on 2 January 2016 and concluded on 17 January 2016. The four teams to proceed to the semi-finals were Delhi Dashers, Chennai Smashers, Awadhe Warriors and Mumbai Rockets. Delhi beat Chennai 4-3 and Mumbai Rockets beat Awadhe Warriors 3–1 to proceed to the final. Delhi Dashers won the tournament after beating Mumbai Rockets 4–3.
The second season of the Premier Badminton League started on 1 January 2017 and concluded on 14 January 2017. It followed the same format as the earlier league, and the four teams to proceed to the semi-finals were Awadhe Warriors, Mumbai Rockets, Chennai Smashers and Hyderabad Hunters. Chennai Smashers beat Awadhe Warriors 4-1 and Mumbai Rockets beat Hyderabad Hunters 3-(-1) to proceed to the final. Chennai Smashers won the tournament after beating Mumbai Rockets 4–3.
The third season of the PBL started on 23 December 2017 and concluded on 14 January 2018. Hyderabad Hunters were crowned the champions after they beat Bengaluru Blasters 4–3 in the final tie.
The fourth season of the PBL was played from 22 December 2018 to 13 January 2019. In the fourth season Bengaluru Raptors took their first title after beating Mumbai Rockets in the final.
The fifth season of the PBL started on 20 January 2020 and concluded on 9 February 2020. Seven teams participated in the season. Delhi Dashers and Ahmedabad Smash Masters did not participate in this edition. Total prize money of ₹6 crore (equivalent to ₹7.1 croreorUS$850,000 in 2023) was announced by Sportzlive for the tournament. [16] Bengaluru Raptors beat Northeastern Warriors 4–2 in the finals to win their second title. It was also their second consecutive title in PBL.
Five seasons of Premier Badminton League have been played since the first season back in 2016. Here are the results. [17]
Season | Year(s) | Final | Venue | Teams | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Winner | Result | Runner-up | ||||
1 | 2016 Details | Delhi Acers | 4–3 | Mumbai Rockets | DDA Badminton and Squash Stadium, New Delhi | 6 |
2 | 2017 Details | Chennai Smashers | 4–3 | Mumbai Rockets | DDA Badminton and Squash Stadium, New Delhi | 6 |
3 | 2017–18 Details | Hyderabad Hunters | 4–3 | Bengaluru Blasters | Kanteerava Indoor Stadium, Bangalore | 8 |
4 | 2018–19 Details | Bengaluru Raptors | 4–3 | Mumbai Rockets | Kanteerava Indoor Stadium, Bangalore | 9 |
5 | 2020 Details | Bengaluru Raptors | 4–2 | Northeastern Warriors | Gachibowli Indoor Stadium, Hyderabad | 7 |
Seasons | Season 1 | Season 2 | Season 3 | Season 4 | Season 5 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Teams | 6 | 6 | 8 | 9 | 7 |
Hyderabad Hunters | 5th | SF | 1st | SF | 6th |
Bengaluru Raptors | 6th | 5th | 2nd | 1st | 1st |
Awadhe Warriors | SF | SF | 5th | SF | 5th |
Mumbai Rockets | 2nd | 2nd | 8th | 2nd | 7th |
Chennai Superstarz | SF | 1st | 6th | 6th | SF |
Northeastern Warriors | DNE | 7th | 8th | 2nd | |
Pune 7 Aces | DNE | 5th | SF | ||
Delhi Dashers | 1st | 6th | SF | 9th | DEF |
Ahmedabad Smash Masters † | DNE | SF | 7th | DEF | |
1st | Champions |
2nd | Runner-up |
SF | Semi-finalists |
DNE | Team did not exist in the respective season |
DEF | Team defunct |
† | Teams that no longer exist |
In 2013 STAR Sports India purchased the broadcasting rights for India. [18]
Winning bidder | Regional broadcast rights | Terms of deal |
---|---|---|
STAR Sports | India | 2013-2025 |
Fox Sports | Hong Kong | 2013-2020 |
SKY Sports | United Kingdom | 2013-2030 |
ESPN | United States | 2013-2023 |
Hotstar | Worldwide digital rights | 2016–present [19] |
Pusarla Venkata Sindhu, popularly known as PV Sindhu, is an Indian badminton player. Considered one of India's most successful sportspersons, Sindhu has won medals at various tournaments such as the Olympics and on the BWF circuit, including a gold at the 2019 World Championships. She is the first and only Indian to become the badminton world champion and only the second individual athlete from India to win two consecutive medals at the Olympic Games. She rose to a career-high world ranking of No. 2 in April 2017.
The 2013 Indian Premier League season was the sixth season of the Indian Premier League, established by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) in 2007. The tournament featured nine teams and was held from 3 April to 26 May 2013. The opening ceremony was held at the Salt Lake Stadium in Kolkata on 2 April 2013. This was the first season with PepsiCo as the title sponsor. The Kolkata Knight Riders were the defending champions, having won the 2012 season. A spot fixing case was revealed by Delhi Police, leading to arrest of three cricketers from Rajasthan Royals and other persons. Mumbai Indians won the tournament for the first time, defeating Chennai Super Kings in the final by 23 runs.
Ajay Jayaram is an Indian retired badminton player from Chennai. He plays for the Mumbai Rockets in the Premier Badminton League. Jayaram is a champion of the Czech International and Dutch Open tournament. Ajay Jayaram did his schooling from Our Lady of Perpetual Succour High School. He retired from the international badminton on 26 March 2022 to pursue MBA from ISB, Hyderabad. Ajay Jayaram married Soumya Ravi on April 6, 2022.
Sunrisers Hyderabad are a professional franchise cricket team based in Hyderabad, Telangana, India, that plays in the Indian Premier League (IPL). The franchise is owned by Kalanithi Maran of the SUN Group and was founded in 2012 after the Hyderabad-based Deccan Chargers were terminated by the IPL. The team is currently coached by Daniel Vettori and captained by Pat Cummins. Their primary home ground is the Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium in Hyderabad, which has a capacity of 39,000.
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Hyderabad Hotshots was a badminton franchise team representing the city of Hyderabad in the Indian Badminton League(IBL). The team was one of the six franchises in the inaugural IBL 2013. The franchise was owned by Andhra Pradesh's multi business group PVP Ventures. The primary home ground of Hyderabad Hotshots was Gachibowli Indoor Stadium in Hyderabad. Hyderabad Hotshots was captained by Indian shuttler Saina Nehwal and coached by Rajendra.
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Chennai Superstarz is a franchise badminton team based in Chennai that plays in the Premier Badminton League (PBL). The team has won the PBL title once, has been in the semi-finals of the league twice in their five appearances. They won the 2017 season beating Mumbai Rockets 3–2. The franchise was renamed from Chennai Smashers to Chennai Superstarz in 2020.
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