Olympic medallist Saina Nehwal on Friday launched The Indian Badminton League’s (IBL) school programme initiative at Noida. The programme, called Shuttle Express, will be taken next to Mumbai, Hyderabad, Pune, Lucknow and Bangalore, the company said. The league is an initiative by the Badminton Association of India, with Sporty Solutionz as its commercial partner.
Matches will be played in these cities over two days and the national finals will be held in Mumbai, which will be telecast live from August 28 to 31, as part of the IBL.
Besides the cash reward, the finalist will get an opportunity to train at the Pullela Gopichand Academy in Hyderabad.
In a statement, Ashish Chadha, CEO, Sporty Solutionz, said, “The reason behind launching the Shuttle Express is to boost young talent at the grassroot level. We take this opportunity to thank our IBL School Partner for the Delhi leg, Genesis Global School, for their support for this initiative.”
Meanwhile, the first edition of IBL is slated to take place in six cities from August 14 to 31, featuring top players. It will be beamed live on television in over 100 countries.