: All eyes will be on world No. 2 Tai Tzu Ying when Bengaluru Raptors begin their title defence against North Eastern Warriors in the fifth season of the Premier Badminton League (PBL) here on Tuesday.
The clash between Tzu Ying, the former World No. 1, and 2014 Commonwealth Games champion Michelle Li of North Eastern Warriors will be the highlight of the best of five match to be played at the Nehru Indoor Stadium.
The North Eastern Warriors team also includes the legendary Lee Yong Dae and Guwahati's rising star Ashmita Chaliha.
Li has two career wins over the Chinese Taipei ace with her last victory coming at the 2019 Japan Open and the North Eastern Warriors shuttler would aim for an encore against PBL's joint-costliest player, Tai.
"I have fond memories of playing here two years ago. We have a strong squad and are confident of putting up a good show," said Tai.
Sai Praneeth, who has been retained by the Bengaluru franchise, will be coming to the league fresh from his historic bronze medal win at the World Championships.
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With former World No. 19 Brice Leverdez in the squad as well as promising talent Ansal Yadav, the Raptors boasts of a strong men's singles line-up.
The North Eastern Warriors, on the other hand, will be boosted by the presence of World No. 23 Lee Cheuk Yiu, who made it to the semi-finals of the Indonesia Masters last week.
Tanongsak Saensomboonsuk will be continuing his association with the Guwahati-based franchise for the second year in a row with PBL debutant Kaushal Dharmamer being in the team.
2008 Olympic champion Lee Yong Dae will be riding on his Malaysia Masters title win to play for North Eastern Warriors in his fourth consecutive appearance for the league.
"We have a very solid team. We had a pretty good training session and are upbeat for the kick-off," said the Korean legend.
The Warriors are scheduled to play their second match in Chennai as well against the Awadhe Warriors on January 23 while the Raptors will meet the Chennai Superstarz on the next day.
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