Interview: Looking to expand PBL to many more cities, says co-founder of Sportzlive Prasad Mangipudi

The second season of the Premier Badminton League came to a dramatic end as the Chennai Smashers clinched victory over the Mumbai Rockets in a nail-biting finale. Watched on a by a sellout crowd at the Siri Fort Indoor Stadium, the likes of PV Sindhu, Parupalli Kashyap and HS Prannoy put on a fine show for the fans to enjoy.

The quality of badminton on display was top notch and with the shorter 11-point sets, the points were more intense as the shuttlers looked to be aggressive and attack at every point. The final went right down to the wire and in the end, it was Thai Tanongsak Saensomboonsuk who scripted a memorable comeback win against Ajay Jayaram to ensure the Smashers went home with the trophy.

Among the audience was Mr. Prasad Mangipudi, who is the co-founder and executive director of Sportzlive and Entertainment Pvt Ltd., the marketing and commercial partners of the Badminton Association of India (BAI) for the PBL.

He spoke to Sportskeeda in an exclusive chat, as he reviewed the second season of the league and explained what lies ahead in the future as well.

Q – How would you review the season gone by?

A – I think that the result is there for everyone to see. It is our company’s first season organizing the PBL and the results have been fantastic. In Delhi, which is not traditionally a badminton-following city, we have seen a huge number of people turn up at the stadium and watch the action.

Badminton is not the most popular sport in the country, but the last few years have been phenomenal for the sport and hence, we can see the increase in interest.

Q – What are your thoughts on the quality of Indian as well as foreign players in this year’s PBL?

A – I can proudly say that we have the best of both worlds in the tournament, making it the best league in the world in the sport. We have multiple Olympic medalists turning out for different teams, especially Carolina Marin, who became a very popular figure following Rio.

We have the best of the Indian talent as well, with the likes of PV Sindhu, Saina Nehwal, Srikant Kidambi and Kashyap, along with various others, all featuring.

From the next editions onwards, we are looking to attract more foreign players and our target is to make it a must-play league for the top-ranked athletes, something they cannot afford to miss.

Q – What are your plans for the future? Will we see an increase in the number of teams?

A – Yes, of course. We are in talks with various parties regarding new teams and the next season may feature teams from other cities as well such as Ahmedabad, Pune, Kolkata and Jaipur. This year, we only focussed on marketing the league in India but in the coming editions, we will make it a global event – something on the lines of the IPL (Indian Premier League).

For the expansion, we will need a longer window from the Badminton World Federation (BWF), which we are waiting on. Once we get the clearance from there, you’ll surely get to see a bigger and better PBL next year!