For the second edition of the Indian Badminton league, two of the six cities Delhi and lucknow teams have been so far finalised said Akhilesh Das Gupta, president of Badminton Association of India here on Thursday.
However, he added that the other four teams are also confirmed but since they are yet to sign a contract, the official announcement of the remaining four teams in $1 million competition is pending.
During the launch of the second edition of IBl, which will take place from January 2 - 17, 2016, Das Gupta said Delhi is being bought by Infinite Computer Solutions, while Sahara Parivar will be for the lucknow team.
While talking about the remaining four teams, Akhilesh said: "We received the letter of Intent (lOI) from the remaining four teams as well, however as the contract is yet to be signed, we are yet to make the official announcement."
Apart from Delhi and lucknow, Hyderabad, Bangalore, Mumbai and Chennai will be the other teams to participate in the league. Chennai replaces Pune from the first edition of the league.
"There cannot be two cities from the same state, since Maharashtra already has Mumbai, this time Chennai will replace Pune," he explained.
The BAI president added that the player's auction for the league will be taking place in November.
The first edition of the badminton league took place in August 2013, when BAI in collaboration with Sporty Solutionz Pvt limited (SSPl), brand owners and commercial partners for the Indian Badminton league (IBl), hosted the event.
When talking about the agreement being cancelled with Sporty, Das Gupta said: "After the first edition took place in August 2013, we had plenty of time to discus about it and due to certain issues we decided to cancel the agreement."
He also assured that many international players will participate and this time it will be even better than the first one. "We have contacted many international players and will certainly ensure that the best players from the world will participate in the league," he assured.
Also he added that in all the six cities a new program 'Shuttle India' will take place at schools during the tournament and before it to identify talents at grassroot level. "In which some star players will participate and give tips for the students," he said.
‘IBl 1 was a good experience'
Fresh from winning the Dutch Open title, Badminton ace, Ajay Jayarm said the first edition of the league was a great exposure for many.
"The first tournament helped me a lot, it was hectic but it was very fun," he said. "IBl will also be a great experience for many players as it will help many to improve their performance and it will certainly help them financially as well."
When asked about the team which he would like to play for in the league, Ajay replied, "I don't have any specifications about an individual team but Mumbai would be good."
He also added that right now he is not worried about the rankings as he is only concentrating on performing consistently and reach the semifinals and final more often. "If I perform consistently, my rankings will automatically improve," he concluded.