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The fourth season of Pro Badminton League kicks off on 22nd December in Mumbai and the three-week festival will end on 14th January when the two best teams compete for the trophy in the final. This season sees the introduction of Pune 7 Aces, a team co-owned by Bollywood celebrity Taapsee Pannu making it a 9-team league instead of the usual 8-team league.
The auction for this season happened back in October and none of the teams were allowed to retain any player or use their 'Right to Match' card to give a democratic chance to the new Pune-based franchise.
While the auction saw the usual suspects, Saina Nehwal, PV Sindhu, Carolina Marin, Victor Axelsen, Kidambi Srikanth, HS Prannoy, Sung Ji Hyun and Lee Yong Dae go for the maximum price (Rs. 80 Lacs), there were several smart buys to balance out the squad dynamics. Let's look at five of the best bargain buys.
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#5 Beiwen Zhang- 39 Lacs
While 39 Lacs is not a small price, getting a player at the peak of her game can be called a bargain.
The 28-year old has won a lot of tournaments including Brasil Open, US Open, US Grand Prix and the Dutch Open (thrice) in her career. She had a good 2018 season, with the India Open win being the highlight. The American beat PV Sindhu in the final, who had the crowd support's with her.
B Zhang is consistently found in the top 15 rankings in women's singles (currently ranked 12) would be taking the responsibility in women's singles for Awadhe Warriors with Rasika Raje (Ranked 95 in world) as her understudy in the squad.
#4 Parupalli Kashyap- 5 Lacs
P Kashyap was bought by Chennai Smashers for a mere price of 5 Lacs. He plays men's singles and is currently ranked 58th in the world.
The 32-year old is an experienced player who has won a bronze medal in men's singles at the Common Wealth Games 2010 and ultimately won the gold medal as well in the 2014 CWG games. In 2012, he also became the first Indian to reach the quarter-finals in badminton in an Olympic event.
Earlier this year, he won the Austrian International Open which was his only achievement of the whole season. Although he is not the same player he was back in 2014, his valued experience can come to good use in the Chennai squad. He will be sharing the men's singles baton with Rajiv Ouseph and Chong Wei Fang for the Smashers this season.
#3 Chirag Shetty- 14 Lacs
Chirag Shetty was snapped up by the new side, Pune 7 Aces for just 14 Lacs while his partner-in-crime Satwiksairaj Rankireddy was bought for a massive 52 Lacs by Ahmedabad Smash Masters.
The two of them have formed quite a reputation in the past couple of years as they have taken the men's doubles category by storm at such a young age. The Indian pair became famous for being on the right side of major upsets in the 2017 season.
The 2018 season was a hit for both of them as they won the Hyderabad Open and finished runners-up in Syed Modi International. They also won the silver medal at the Common Wealth Games held in Australia this year at the meager age of 21.
Currently ranked No.19 in men's doubles, Shetty is most likely to pair up with Mathias Boe and Vladimir Ivanov.
#2 Gabby Adcock- 36 Lacs
Gabby Adcock was bought for 36 Lacs by Chennai Smashers while her husband and mixed doubles partner Chris Adcock was bought for 54 Lacs by the same side.
The English pair has been romping up the world circuit in the mixed doubles category for quite a few years now. Both of them had a great season as they won the gold medal at the European Championships for the second consecutive season in 2018. They also clinched the gold medal at the Commonwealth Games in 2018 after winning the same in 2014 as well.
Getting a world beater like Gabby Adcock for 36 Lacs can prove to be great business as she can beat anyone on her day. Sung Ji Hyun would be hoping to lead the much balanced Smashers side to their second PBL title.
#1 Marcus Ellis- 20 Lacs
Buying Marcus Ellis for 20 Lacs was the best move by Bengaluru Raptors in this year's auction. After buying Kidambi Srikanth for 80 Lacs and spending more than 80 Lacs on the Indonesian doubles' pair of Hendra Setiawan and Mohd Ahsan.
The Englishman has had a brilliant 2018 season as he won gold medals in mixed doubles in Canada Open, Dutch Open, SaarLorLux Open, Scottish Open with Lauren Smith as his partner. He also won the gold in men's doubles in Canada Open, SaarLorLux Open, and Scottish Open with Chris Langridge as his partner.
To top it all, he won the silver medal in the 2018 CWG games in mixed doubles and clinched the gold medal in men's doubles later.
L Smith, also bought for 20 Lacs, will be the obvious first choice to partner Ellis in the mixed doubles for the Raptors.
