Hunters face Smashers

 The stage is set for the Premier Badminton League Season 2 which will kick start at the Sports Authority of Andhra Pradesh, Hyderabad, with the local team Hyderabad Hunters opening their campaign against Chennai Smashers.

The opening contest will see two of the best players of the current generation Carolina Marin of the hosts and PV Sindhu of Smashers in action. The match will be one of the highlights of the fortnight-long league.

Hunters, who finished fifth in last year’s edition, have lined-up Olympic champion Marin and a lot will be expected of her after a great year on the international calendar. While her presence will be a huge boost, a lot will also depend on how the trio of Rajiv Ouseph of England and Indian pair of Sameer Verma and B Sai Praneeth perform in the tournament.

Smashers, the semifinalists of the last edition, will be all eager to go the distance this year. The team has instilled their faith on Sindhu and bought her back to lead the team, and going through a purple patch she will be expected to play a huge role in the team’s progress.

Bengaluru Blasters were the bottom-placed team last season and that is one of the main reasons they have a new look squad going into this year’s tournament. With an eye on the trophy, the Blasters have drafted in the Rio Olympics bronze medalist Viktor Axelsen of Denmark to deliver the goods for them in the tournament. Apart from the Dane, their men’s singles department boasts of Thailand’s Boonsak Ponsana and India’s Saurabh Verma.

Defending champions Delhi Acers in a bid to win the title for the second time will step on the court with a fairly new-look squad. With the presence of Danish heavyweight Jan O Jorgensen and South Korea’s Son Wan Ho, they will be one of the most dreaded in the tournament as far as the men’s singles matches will be concerned. A lot will depend on how these two perform during the course of the tournament. Jwala Gutta, the ace doubles specialist, will be the key player in the mixed doubles. If she performs to the best of her abilities, it will give Acers a fine chance of retaining the championship.

The runners-up from last edition, Mumbai Rockets’ title hunt will be led by Indian duo of Ajay Jayaram and HS Prannoy and the Korean superstar Sung Ji Hyun.

The semifinalists of last season Awadhe Warriors will be looking to rejuvenate their last year’s form and go a step further in this year’s tournament.