Axelsen, the newly crowned World No. 1 after he clinched his maiden World Championship gold at Glasgow, and reigning All England champion Tai Tzu, who also won titles at Malaysia, Singapore, have confirmed their participation at the PBL, to be organised by Sportzlive under the aegis of Badminton Association of India (BAI).
Rio Olympic champion Carolina Marin of Spain and India's World No. 2 P V Sindhu, World Championship bronze medallist, Saina Nehwal and Kidambi Srikanth are expected to be the top draws during the auction, which allows each franchise to spend Rs 2.12 crore on their team.
As many as 10 Olympic medallists (including 3 multiple medal winners) and eight medallists from the recently- concluded World Championships have confirmed their presence for the Rs 6 crore League, which gets under way in December.
Interestingly, China will also be well represented this time, with their World No. 11 men's singles player Tian Houwei putting his hat in the ring.
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PBL 3 will be a strong eight -team league, with the addition of two more franchises. It will begin on December 22 and conclude on January 14 and will enthral fans at Mumbai, Hyderabad, Lucknow, Chennai and Guwahati.
Axelsen, Son Wan Ho of Korea and Srikanth among men and Tai Tzu, Marin, Sindhu, Saina, Sung Ji Hyun of Korea and Tzu Wei Wang of Taiwan among women have been granted icon status.
Players from as many as 11 countries, including China, Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, Germany and Hong Kong will be up for grabs in the mega auction.
All the available players will go through the auction process, with the six existing teams allowed to invoke their 'Right to Match' (RTM) option. This will not only make the bidding process more intriguing but will also test the strategic acumen of each team.
The 24-day league will see eight teams -- Delhi Acers, Mumbai Rockets, Bengaluru Blasters, Chennai Smashers, Hyderabad Hunters, North Eastern Warriors, Ahmedabad Smash Masters and Awadhe Warriors -- in action.