Adding to the several things and events ruined by the global pandemic in the year 2020 is the sixth season of the Premier Badminton League, which is one of the highest prize money tournament in the world. For the last 5 years, this tournament has witnessed the participation of the Top-10 players and it was scheduled to be held in the end of December this year however the league has been postponed to a date, that is not yet determined, next year.
The decision was taken by Sportzlive in consultation with Badminton Association of India (BAI), keeping in the mind the guidelines of the pandemic and everyone’s safety as a tournament would mean for a lot of players to travel and for a huge crowd to be in one place. The safety of the players and the stakeholders being the prime concern and the world gradually coming back on track, the league is all set to be held next year.
Premier Badminton League has given the opportunity to the players to compete with world champions and has helped a lot of them with improved performance of the sport in the country in the last 5 years. PBL has not only given new players a chance to showcase their talent alongside world champions, but also financially assist them solely based on their talent and performance.
“With the cases on the rise again and the second wave hitting the country, it is pertinent that we adhere to the COVID-19 advisory issued by the Health Ministry. However, with the recent announcement of the vaccine, we are optimistic that the economy shall improve and things shall return to normalcy including international travel soon. The league meanwhile plans to introduce grassroots as well as other badminton activities in order to bring back the badminton actions ahead of the next season,” Mangipudi said making it very clear how the safety and following guidelines during this pandemic is the major concern.
With optimism and hope for the world to gradually get back on track, this league is all set to be held at the earliest next year, not wanting the viewers to miss any of the action and players to have their chance to showcase their talent.
Story by Megha Bali
