Defending Champions Solitaire Shuttlers will be determined to defend their crown as the fourth edition of the NSCI Badminton League (NBL), is scheduled to be conducted from 23rd-25th November 2018 at the NSCI badminton hall, Worli.
Six franchise-based teams, including Solitaire Shuttlers and last year’s runners-up Rajdhani Royals, along with King Shuttlers, Roaring Raqueteers, Maverick Aces and Super Smashers will be seen competing for the top honours in this tournament. Once again the competition will be fierce and all the matches are expected to witness some very close and lively contests.
Each team will consist of 12 players, including 1 Marquee, 1 Junior Player, 3 women and one player over 50 years. Every team will play each other in a tournament format. The team with the maximum points will be declared a winner, while the second-best points will be the runners-up.
Vijay Advani, Hon. Secretary, NSCI, said: “The NSCI Badminton League is one of the most popular tournaments at NSCI and it is growing every year, the auction and the management by Supriya and team are par-excellence. We have a lot of good players who have been working hard and I look forward to a great tournament.”
Meanwhile, Nikhil Mansukhani, was the favorite at the auction on Monday and attracted the highest bid in the history of NBL when he was picked for 445 points which bettered his last year’s record of 300 points. The second highest bid came for Asish Kapila of Maverick Aces at 235 points followed by Yash Golechha of Super Smashers at 200 points.
Supriya Devgun, Founder and Director Evolution Sports & Convener of Badminton, NSCI, thanked the players and the NSCI Management for their support. “This is the fourth edition and it has become the most sought-after event which is keenly looked forward to by the members. Such events bring the badminton fraternity together and build new friendships which is what the sport is all about and NSCI has been very supportive towards this event and I would like to thank them for the continued support,” said Devgun.
Supriya Devgun, the brain behind the NSCI Badminton League, was overwhelmed with the response the event has received. “The response from members playing badminton was great. Over 140 enthusiastic and top-notch players registered for the League. My best wishes to all the participants and hope they compete well, play hard and fair and make the Badminton League the best sporting event at NSCI,” Devgun further added.
The 6 participating teams and owners:
Solitaire Shuttlers (Team Owners – Sanjay Shah, Neeral Shah & Pritish Devgun).
Rajdhani Royal (Team Owners – Mayur Saraf and Amit Modi).
Roaring Raqueteers (Team Owners – Shaival Jhaveri, Ashish Jalan, Kareem Jaffer & Lalit Choradia).
Maverick Aces (Team Owners – Gautam Asudani, Rakesh Khetwani and Rohit Kapoor).
King Shuttlers (Team Owners – Suneet Kabra and Dr Bimal Parekh).
Super Smashers (Team Owners – Ashu Jain and Asad Adenwala)