IBL inaugural season preview – Part 2: Mumbai Masters, Pune Pistons, Krrish Delhi Smashers

Ashwini Ponnappa is the Pune Pistons’ star player

5. Pune Pistons

Pune is considered to be the birthplace of badminton. In fact for long, badminton was referred to as the “Poona Game”. As per some accounts, the British soldiers, who used to play the sport in Pune, took the game back with them on their return to Gloucestershire County. The Duke of Beaufort from the town of badminton actively promoted the game, and the sport was therefore called “Badminton” as a salute to his contribution. The city of Pune has produced India’s first badminton icon Nandu Natekar, who was the first Indian to win an international tournament outside the country.

Key facts:

Owners: Burman family – Owners of the Dabur group. Burman family also owns a stake in the Kings XI Punjab IPL team and Mumbai Magicians team in the Hockey India League

Chief Coach: Nikhil Kanetkar – Represented India in the 2004 Olympics

Host Stadium: Shri Shiv Chhatrapati Sports Complex, Badminton Hall, Balewadi

Icon Player: Ashwini Ponnappa – Bronze medallist in women’s doubles at 2011 BWF World Championship; gold medallist in women’s doubles in 2010 Commonwealth Games

Team Composition

The owners did a good job in the auction and have compiled a well balanced team. Indian star Ashwini Ponnappa is the icon player in the team, which also has top women’s singles player Juliane Schenk, Viatnamese men single’s star Tien Minh Nguyen, seasoned doubles players Joachim Fischer and Wee Kiong Tan. Apart from Ponnappa, the Indian contingent also comprises of Arun Vishnu, Anup Sridhar, Saurabh Verma, Rupesh Kumar and Sanave Thomas.

Strengths: Men’s and Women’s Singles, Mixed Doubles

World number seven Tien Minh Nguyen has been in top form recently and will be a potent force for all other teams to deal with. Saurabh Verma is likely to be the other men’s singles player, and he might have to bring out some inspired performances to win his matches.

In the women’s singles department, Juliane Schenk looks set to have a good tournament. Joachim Fischer is likely to partner Ashwini Ponnappa in mixed doubles, and the Indo-Danish pair will use all their experience to do well.

Analysis of Men’s Doubles

Wee Kiong Tan, who is world number 10 in men’s doubles, is likely to be partnered by one among Rupesh Kumar, Sanave Thomas and Arun Vishnu. It’ll be imperative for the Indian player who plays in men’s doubles to complement the Malaysian well in the games, if they are to win against some tough competition from other teams.

Tournament schedule:

vs Krrish Delhi Smashers – August 14

vs Mumbai Masters – August 17

vs Hyderabad Hotshots – August 19

vs Banga Beats – August 23

vs Awadhe Warriors – August 26

Conclusion

The star players (Nguyen, Schenk, Fischer/Ponnappa) will be expected to win their matches. The second men’s singles (Verma) is a bit of a concern, while the coach will look to get the men’s doubles combination right. The team looks well balanced and should be able to make it to semi-finals, barring any major hiccups.