Malaysian badminton superstar Lee Chong Wei was tamped as the most expensive player in the last-minute pre-auction for the high profile Indian Premier Badminton League (PBL) yesterday.
Bid after bid, the national ace was sought for an ultimate price tag of USD100,000 (RM420,000), the maximum permissible amount, by the Hyderabad Hunters, defeating their rivals Mumbai to acquire the aid and services of Chong Wei for the upcoming tournaments
World no.2 Saina Nehwal will be playing for the Awadh Warriors of Lucknow after the franchiser too topped the bid with the maximum amount of USD100,000.
Chong Wei and Saina both were not part of the auction as their names were only mentioned in the player’s list which was disclosed on Monday. Despite that, both players had managed to climb up the bids and labelled themselves as the most expensive players in the PBL.
Indian shuttler P.V Sindhu was named the third most expensive player after she was secured by the Chennai Smashers with a whooping price of AS$95,000 (RM407,000). The Macau Open champion found herself in the middle of an aggressive bidding among Mumbai, Delhi and Chennai but Chennai Smashers’ Vijakant Shanmugapandian claimed the final bid.
The PBL will commence on January 2 in Mumbai before ending in New Delhi at January 17.
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