Gand Prix Badminton League Season 2 postponed indefinitely

PTI, Aug 26, 2023, 7:11 PM IST

Bengaluru: The second season of the Grand Prix Badminton League (GPBL) on Saturday was postponed indefinitely after several players pulled out of the event, said League Commissioner Prasanth Reddy here.

Reddy said the players were forced to withdraw from the GPBL, which was scheduled to begin on Sunday, after the Badminton Association of India (BAI) did not give necessary permission to run the league.

”Our attempts to reach out to BAI thus far have proved futile. We will keep making efforts to reach out to them and find a way to work together. Though it is a big blow at the moment, GPBL Season 2 is only postponed for the moment, and will be back bigger and grander soon,” said Reddy during a press meet.

The Division Bench of Karnataka High Court had given a go-ahead for the GPBL on Friday.

However, citing a Supreme Court order dated August 22, the BAI through a circular issued late on Friday night stressed that players, coaching and technical staff should not be a part of any unauthorized tournaments or leagues.

In the circular, BAI said the Karnataka HC did not judge the petition on merits and the final hearing has been posted for September 12.

The national governing body further underlined that it could take appropriate action against players or other staff in retrospection if the September 12 verdict goes against the GPBL and its organisers.

The tournament was set to see participation from some of the top players in the country such as Mithun Manjunath and B Sai Praneeth.

Mithun was bought for Rs 14.5 lakh by Chennai Superstarz in the player auction on August 5, while Praneeth went to Northeast Rhinos for Rs 10 lakh.

While entertaining the hopes of securing a favourable order from Karnataka HC next month, Reddy said they will have to restart the league from the scratch as and when it happens, including a new auction for the players.

Former national champion Arvind Bhat, the GPBL Director, too hoped the league will be back on track soon as it gives good exposure to upcoming players.

The BAI had earlier issued circulars on April 10 and July 5, warning players not to participate in ”unrecognized tournaments”. But it was challenged before the Karnataka High Court which then stayed the operation of the BAI circular on July 21, ordering BAI to not take any action against players, coaches and technical staff.

However, Supreme Court on Tuesday set aside the Karnataka High court order with BAI also issuing a release, saying its earlier circulars are ”still in force” and ”appropiate instructions may be issued to the concerned players, coaches, technical staffs to desist from participating in such unauthorised tournaments/leagues.” Some of the top Indian players, including PV Sindhu, Kidambi Srikanth, Ashwini Ponappa, Sai Praneeth, Satwiksairaj Rankireddy, HS Prannoy, Chirag Shetty and Jwala Gutta, were associated with different teams as mentors in the first edition.

KGF Wolves were the winners of the inaugural edition.