Chennai Smashers is one of the nine franchises of the Premier Badminton League. Based in Chennai, the team is owned by VPVS Sports Pvt. Ltd. It is one of the most successful teams of the league, and has won the league in the PBL Season 2.
In the PBL 2018, the team has made a lot of changes and has brought in top ranked international players in the team. England’s Chris Adcock will lead the team this year. A doubles specialist, Adcock is ranked 10th in the world. The Smashers have also roped in Adcock’s doubles partner Gabrielle Adcock to play the mixed doubles event.
The men’s singles category will be handled by England’s Rajiv Ouseph and India’s Parupalli Kashyap. The duo is joined by Malaysia’s experienced player Chong Wei Feng.
Chennai Smashers have a strong women’s singles player in South Korea’s Sung Ji-hyun. She has had a great track record of winning against top Indian women’s singles players like P.V. Sindhu and Saina Nehwal. Sung was brought by the Smashers for a sum of Rs. 80 lakh, making her the costliest buy for the team and the icon player. She is currently ranked 10th in the world.
The team will start their campaign in the PBL 2018 against Hyderabad Hunters on 25th December in Hyderabad.
Here is the full schedule of the Chennai Smashers’ PBL 2018 campaign:
Match #1
Date: 25 December 2018
Opponent: Hyderabad Hunters
City: Gachibowli Indoor Stadium, Hyderabad
Timing (IST): 19:00 hrs
Match #2
Date: 30 December 2018
Opponent: Ahmedabad Smash Masters
City: Balewadi Indoor Stadium, Pune
Timing (IST): 16:00 hrs
Match #3
Date: 3 January 2019
Opponent: Pune 7 Aces
City: The Arena by SE TransStadia, Ahmedabad
Timing (IST): 19:00 hrs
Match #4
Date: 5 January 2019
Opponent: Mumbai Rockets
City: The Arena by SE TransStadia, Ahmedabad
Timing (IST): 16:00 hrs
Match #5
Date: 07 January 2019
Opponent: Awadhe Warriors
City: Kanteerava Indoor Stadium, Bengaluru
Timing (IST): 19:00 hrs
Match #6
Date: 10 January 2019
Opponent: Bengaluru Raptors
City: Kanteerava Indoor Stadium, Bengaluru
Timing (IST): 19:00 hrs
(With inputs from Aditya Bhusal)
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