New Delhi, Jul 23: Saina Nehwal is the top female sportsperson of the country. If you wonder how much that translates into real money terms, think $120,000.
Who got whom in IBL auction
For that is the amount Hyderabad Hostshots shelled out for her at the inaugural Indian Badminton League auction in the Capital on Monday.
It translates into about Rs 71 lakh, not too much if you consider that some of the cricketers have gone for ten times more at the IPL auction.
But if you consider that the Hostshots splurged 43 per cent of their total purse of $275,000 to buy 10 players, you will understand how precious she really is.
The London Olympics bronze medallist was undoubtedly the biggest Indian draw and the team from her city went out of its way to keep the star at home.
Only one shuttler fetched a bigger amount under auctioneer Bob Hayton's gavel, and that is Malaysia's World No. 1 Lee Chong Wei. Mumbai Masters bid $135,000 for his services, warding off fierce competition from the likes of Banga Beats and Delhi Smashers.
The Hotshots owners were, of course, the ones who sported the biggest smiles on the day. Rajeev Kamineni, the executive director of PVP Group, was delighted to corner two icons from the badminton world: Saina and Taufik Hidayat.
"Saina and Taufik have caught the attention of the world for close to a decade now. It is great that we have them on board," Kamineni, who bought Taufik at the base price of $15,000, said on Monday.
The Hyderabad franchise also shelled out generously for Ashwini Ponappa's new doubles partner Pradnya Gadre, who went for $46,000, up from her base price of $10,000.
Their last two buys Kanthi Visalakshi and Shubhankar Dey were bought for $3,000 each because they had only that much left to buy the reserve players.
Mumbai, after blowing away nearly half of their purse on Chong Wei, had to settle for the likes of Manu Attri ($10,000) and Sikki Reddy ($11,000) to make up the numbers.
Others like Lucknow Warriors purposely didn't go above a certain limit even for the 'icon players', with their biggest buy being young PV Sindhu for $80,000.
"Some of the teams don't understand that they have to win five different types of matches - men's singles, women's singles, men's doubles, second men's singles and mixed doubles - to progress in this tournament. Players like Chong Wei and Saina are no doubt good buys but will only win you one match each. If we had bid as aggressively, we probably wouldn't have had a balanced side like we have now," Sahara India spokesperson Abhijit Sarkar told TOI on Monday.
The auction, though, was not without its controversies. The 2010 Delhi Commonwealth Games women's doubles champions Jwala Gutta and Ponnappa went to Delhi Smashers and Pune Pistons at $31,000 and $25,000 after their base price was reduced from $50,000 to $25,000 following a meeting of all the franchises on Sunday night.
IBL's decision not to have women's doubles event in the tournament was probably the reason behind Gutta and Ponnappa's slide. "Last night, we had a closed bidding but then two players Jwala and Ashwini went unsold, so the women's doubles was scrapped and it was decided that their base price be slashed to $25,000," said Ashish Chadha, CEO of Sporty Solutionz, the commercial partner of IBL.
"Since Jwala and Ashwini were signed as icon players for the women's doubles, the IBL decided to safeguard their interest by paying them the deficit amount and give them a chance to fetch a bigger amount in the auction," said Chadha.
The player contracts will be valid for two years. The organisers claimed that the players are eligible for 15 per cent hike on this amount next year but some of the franchise owners were unaware of the clause.
Among other big Indian buys were Commonwealth Games bronze-medallist Parupalli Kashyap, picked up by Banga Beats for $75,000 while little-known Maneesha went for $26,000, more than six times her base price of $4,000. World No. 7 Tinh Minh Nyugen and world No. 4 Juliane Schenk were bought by Pune for $44,000 and $90,000.
Lee Chong Wei: $135,000
The Malaysian is the current World No.1. After Lin Dan, Lee Chong is considered to be the best men's singles player of his generation. Aged 30, Lee Chong has failed in his bid to win an Olympic gold in Beijing (2008) and London (2012). Lin Dan ensured that the gold travelled to China and Lee had to be satisfied with silver. He will lead the charge for Mumbai Masters.
Saina Nehwal: $120,000
Currently ranked World No.3, Saina reached the highest point of her career when she won the Olympic bronze medal in London 2013. She almost single-handedly challenged China's domination and scripted some memorable victories over Li Xuerui, Wang Shixian and Wang Lin. She will represent the Hyderabad Hosts, her home team.
Juliane Schenk: $90,000
She brings a lot of German spunk in her game. Retrieving shots from almost impossible angles is the hallmark of her game. She is the best female player to have emerged from Germany and crowned her career when she won the Singapore Open Superseries title in 2012. She is ranked 4th in the world.
Pradnya Gadre: $46000
She made news when Ashwini Ponnappa chose to partner her in the Indian doubles team breaking her long-term relationship with Jwala Gutta. Currently Ashwini and Pradnya are ranked World No. 27. The Nashik girl won both the doubles titles - mixed and women's - in the VV Natu Memorial All-India ranking tournament that ended on Sunday. She is a good buy for Hyderabad.
PV Sindhu: $80000
It is not surprising that PV Sindhu has fetched such a huge price. She is India's best bet after Saina Nehwal. At 18, she has already beaten 2012 Olympic gold medalist Li Xuerui in the China Masters Super Series. If he gets to play against Saina, it would be an interesting feature of the IBL.
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