Premier Badminton League 2020: PBL finals shifted from Bengaluru to Hyderabad

What's the story?

The final leg of Premier Badminton League 2020 has been shifted out of Bengaluru as the home franchise, Bengaluru Raptors failed to get a venue for the matches. Now, the finals of PBL 2020 will take place in Hyderabad.

The background

The organizers had announced the schedule for PBL 2020 earlier and Hyderabad was set to host the matches from January 29 to February 4. After that, the action would move to Bengaluru where the teams were set to compete against each other from 5th February to 9th February. The last leg also included the semifinals and finals.

The heart of the matter

1/2 Despite our best efforts, this year PBL will not happen in Bengaluru. The semis and finals will happen in Hyderabad instead. This is a really big disappointment for us as well as for badminton fans in Bengaluru.

— Bengaluru Raptors (@blr_raptors) January 10, 2020

2/2 It’s a sorry state of affairs when necessary facilities are not provided despite the success of the team every year. Hopefully next year the authorities will be more cooperative. For now, we prepare for our first match in Chennai against North East Warriors

— Bengaluru Raptors (@blr_raptors) January 10, 2020

Confirming the news, Bengaluru Raptors sent out a message to its fans via its official Twitter handle on Friday (10th January). Before tweeting the official announcement, the Raptors had also informed the fans about the controversy with the a series of tweets.

"Dear badminton players and Bengaluru Raptors fans, unfortunately it looks like this year we may not be able to have the Premier Badminton League finals in Namma Bengaluru. We have been requesting availability of Kanteerava stadium for several months now.

However some officials have prevented the PBL finals from happening here. Bengaluru is a badminton city and the home of none other than the great Prakash Padukone. It’s also the best badminton city in India and boasts of the most enthusiastic fans.

It’s a real shame that badminton fans in the city are going to be deprived of this opportunity to watch the best players in the world - Sindhu and Tai Tzu play. We have written to the Chief Ministers office requesting their intervention and help resolve this issue.

Kanteerava stadium is the best venue for badminton but certain officials at Kanteerava stadium have laid claim to the stadium and are doing their very best to sabotage this event from happening."

They even appealed to the authorities to take note of the controversy, however, they finally shifted matches out of Bengaluru. Premier Badminton League's official Twitter handle made the required changes to the schedule and shared it with the fans on Friday.

🗓 - 20th Jan - 9th Feb📍 - Chennai, Lucknow, Hyderabad⏰ - 7.30 PM, 3.30 PM📺 - Star Sports 1/1HD/HotstarMark your calendars, cancel your plans, #PBLSeason5 is here! 🕺💃#RiseOfTheRacquet pic.twitter.com/mVw13FMKji

— PBL India (@PBLIndiaLive) January 10, 2020

What's next?

While there will be no matches in Bengaluru this year, the fans should look forward to the fifth season of Premier Badminton League which starts from 20th January in Chennai.

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