Hyderabad: The launch of the IPL-style league in badminton last year was a huge boost to lift the profile of the shuttle sport in the country, says former international Sanjay Sharma. “IBL has changed the format of badminton in India. While cricket has become an industry, we have remained at the sporting level. We could never dream of our players staying in five-star hotels, but IBL changed everything and suddenly youngsters were earning lakhs of rupees, making good money to play for one tournament which had a prize-fund of a million dollars,” Sharma said while speaking at a seminar on sporting leagues on the first day of the Sports Journalists Federation of India’s 37th National Convention here.
“I found the response to IBL absolutely amazing; never thought it would get such a huge response,” said the doubles specialist turned commentator. Mustafa Ghouse, CEO of FC Bengaluru who stunned Indian football followers by winning the I-League in their debut season this year, said that the club’s ultimate aim is to win the tournament with 11 Indian players. “We want to win the I-League with all 11 Indian players in four years’ time,” said the former tennis player. Charu Sharma, one of the promoters of the ProKabbadi League, said the sport had a huge potential to grow. “It is a 4,000 to 5,000 year old sport but the way Kabbadi has gone forward, it is amazing. It is no less a world class offering than any other sport. We kick-off on July 26 and the Rs 1 crore prize money is in keeping with the economics of the league,” he said.
