India's top shuttler and Olympic bronze medallist Saina Nehwal was sold to Hyderabad Hostshots for a whopping $120,000 at the inaugural players' auction of the Indian Badminton League (IBL) here Monday.
World No.1 Lee Chong Wei of Malaysia got the highest bid from Mumbai Masters for $135,000 while Parupalli Kashyap was sold to Banga Beats for $75,000. The three icon players had a base price of $50,000.
The $1 million IBL will be conducted in six cities August 14-31. The richest badminton league in the world will feature almost all the top-50 players in the world.