PBL 2018: Bengaluru Blasters vs Delhi Dashers match preview, schedule and live telecast information

All eyes will be on the World No. 1 Viktor Axelsen as the Bengaluru Blasters play their first match at the Premier Badminton League (PBL) 2018 in New Delhi on Thursday. The Blasters will face the Season 1 champions Delhi Dashers, who suffered a 1-4 loss at the hands of the Mumbai Rockets in the Guwahati leg.

Axelsen will surely be using this platform to start the 2018 season with full of confidence. The Danish star had his career-best season in 2017 and amassed four titles, which included the World Championships and the World Superseries Finals.

He would be keen to carry on from where he left. However, Axelsen alone cannot take the Blasters to victory. The entire team has to perform well and that is quite an uphill task, given the quality of the challenge they are facing tonight.

The Dashers were a depleted team in the Guwahati leg. The newly-married Ashwini Ponnappa has joined the Delhi franchise and her presence will surely bolster the mixed doubles department.

The Delhi team also has the World No. 6 Sung Ji Hyun, who is the big favourite in women’s singles against the likes of the 16th ranked Kirsty Gilmour. The men’s doubles duo of Vladimir Ivanov and Ivan Sozonov will be gunning for a win after ending on the losing side of a nail-biting tussle in their last match.

For the Blasters, the pairing of Mathias Boe and Manu Attri will likely be fielded in men’s doubles, while Sikki Reddy and Kim Sa Rang might team up for mixed doubles. Their second singles player, World No. 45 Chong Wei Feng too would not have it easy against the 22nd ranked Tian Houwei, who upset Son Wan Ho in Delhi’s last outing.

Here is all the information you need to know

Tournament name: Premier Badminton League Season 3

Venue: Siri Fort Complex, New Delhi

Date: Thursday, December 28, 2017

Time:

Bengaluru Blasters vs Delhi Dashers at 7.00pm IST

Channel: Star Sports 1/Star Sports 1 HD

Livestream information: Star Sports Hotstar

The squads:

Bengaluru Blasters - Viktor Axelsen, Chong Wei Feng, Subhankar Dey, Kirsty Gilmour, Rituparna Das, Mathias Boe, Manu Attri, Kim Sa Rang, N Sikki Reddy, Sanjana Santosh.

Delhi Dashers - Wong Wing Ki Vincent, Tian Houwei, RMV Gurusaidutt, Sung Ji Hyun, Shreyanshi Pardeshi, Vladimir Ivanov, Ivan Sozonov, Ashwini Ponnappa, Pranaav Jerry Chopra, Arathi Sara Sunil.