Top Badminton Players confirm participation in IBL

Top badminton players from Indonesia, South Korea, Thailand, Vietnam and Europe have confirmed their participation in the inaugural edition of the $1 million (approximately Rs.5.5 crores) Indian Badminton League (IBL).

While the Indonesian men's group will be led by the world's No. 4 Sony Dwi Kuncoro, who will begin with a base price of $50,000 in the players auction, and world's No.10 Simon Santaso, Europe will be represented by the likes of their continental champion Marc Zweibler of Germany and Danish world No. 11 Jan O Jorgensen.

IBL 2013: 29 Bids for 6 Teams

The inaugural Indian Badminton League (IBL), scheduled to be held in June, has attracted immense interest not only from among corporates but also top cricketers. Six city-based teams in the Indian Badminton League have attracted 29 bids, with the Sahara Group, PVP Ventures, Ness Wadia and one star Indian cricketer having bought four of these teams.

Sahara has bought Lucknow while Ness Wadia's bid for the Mumbai team has been almost finalized. PVP Ventures (which also made a valiant bid to buy the Deccan Chargers IPL team) has made a successful bid for the Hyderabad franchise.