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Excitement is building as the fifth edition of the Premier Badminton League is just around the corner. The flagship event will kickstart on 20th January and go on till 9th February.
The PBL is a great platform for budding badminton players in the country to showcase their talent and gain recognition. It also provides an opportunity to play with some of the finest players from around the World. The entertaining league has been great in popularizing the sport in India.
The entertaining league will be conducted in three phases this year - with the first leg being played at Jawaharlal Nehru Indoor Stadium in Chennai, the second at Babu Banarasi Das U.P. Badminton Academy in Lucknow, and the final stage of PBL being held at G. M. C. Balayogi SATS Indoor Stadium in Hyderabad.
Mumbai Rockets, Awadhe Warriors, North Eastern Warriors, Chennai Superstarz, Pune 7 Aces, Hyderabad Hunters, and Bengaluru Raptors are the seven teams in contention for the coveted trophy.
In this article, we aim to do an analysis of the defending champions - Bengaluru Raptors. The strong unit from Bangalore, which will be coached by Arvind Bhat this season, will leave no stone unturned in a bid to keep their winning streak going. Their squad for the upcoming PBL edition looks balanced and has a good mix of young and experienced players. Without further ado, let's take a look:
Men's Singles: Sai Praneeth, Brice Leverdez, Ansal Yadav
Sai Praneeth is the highest-ranked Men's Singles Indian player currently. The 27-year-old from Andhra Pradesh will be the best bet for Bengaluru Raptors as far as Men's Singles is concerned. The ace shuttler was instrumental for the unit in their title-winning campaign in Season 4 and can be expected to play a pivotal role once again.
The current World Number 11 did not have the best of starts to his International season and faced first-round exits at both the Malaysia Masters and Indonesia Masters 2020.
Rasmus Gemke of Denmark defeated Praneeth 21-11 21-15 in the Round of 32 at Indonesia Masters. Praneeth did manage to win a set against Shi Yu Qi in the first round of Malaysia Masters but eventually lost 21-16 19-21 10-21 to the 8th seeded Chinese shuttler. He will be quickly looking to forget these two defeats and channelize all his energy in the upcoming PBL 2020.
French shuttler Brice Leverdez is currently ranked 33rd in the International circuit. The 2019 European Games silver medallist has loads of experience playing at the top level and is a tough contender. The 33-year-old made it to past the Qualifiers of the Indonesia Open recently but lost to South Korea's Heo Kwang Hee in the Round 1 match of the main draw. Regardless, Brice is a fine talent and will look to make a mark in the upcoming badminton extravaganza.
22-year-old Ansal Yadav is the backup player in the squad. He has won 44 career singles matches out of the 70 that he has played.
Men's Doubles: Chan Peng Soon, Arun George, Chang Tak Ching
Chan Peng Soon is a highly regarded Doubles player. The Malaysian has played 152 doubles matches in his international career and has emerged victorious in 86 of them.
The 31-year-old specializes in Mixed doubles and has 356 career wins in the category from 567 matches played. Chan Peng and his current Mixed doubles partner Goh Liu Ying are currently ranked 7 in the category. The duo also won the Silver medal at the 2016 Rio Olympics and have consistently been ranked in the top 10 in recent years.
The doubles veteran has been playing badminton since he was 8. Peng and Goh were seeded sixth in the ongoing Indonesia Masters 2020 and made it till the quarterfinals before losing out to the top seed pair of Zheng Sei Wei and Huang Ya Qiong.
Arun George also has plenty of experience. The 24-year-old has 62 career wins in the doubles category out of 102 matches. He partners with fellow Indian shuttler Sanyam Shukla and the duo is currently ranked 63rd in BWF Men's Doubles category.
Hong Kong's Chang Ching Tak is currently ranked 68 in Men's Doubles rankings with partner Yeung Ming Nok. The right-handed shuttler always aspires to do his best and is a capable doubles player.
Women's Singles: Tai Tzu Ying, Medha Shashidharan
Current World Number 2 Tai Tzu Ying is undoubtedly the biggest asset of the Bengaluru Raptors. The Chinese Taipei shuttler won the Gold medal at the 2018 Jakarta-Palembang Asian Games. In 2019, Tai Tzu Ying emerged victorious at the prestigious Malaysia Open (Super 750), Singapore Open (Super 500), Denmark Open (Super 750). She also finished runners up the BWF World Tour Finals, China Open, and All England Open in 2019.
Most recently, the 25-year-old singles specialist won the silver medal at the Malaysia Masters 2020. Tai Tzu Ying is a force to reckon with in the Women's Singles category and is sure to create a significant impact for Bengaluru Raptors.
17-year-old Medha Shashidharan will be providing the back-up option for Tai Tzu Ying.
Also Check: PBL 2020 Points Table
Mixed Doubles: Eom Hye Won
Eom Hye Won is a specialist in the Mixed doubles category. The South Korean shuttler partners with Ko Sung Hyun in the International circuit and the duo are currently ranked 41st in the category. Eom has played 244 career mixed doubles matches and won 159 of them.
It will be interesting to see who the 2013 World Championships silver medallist is paired up with for PBL season 5. Eom Hye Won and Ko Sung Hyun put up a stellar show at the ongoing Indonesia Masters and reached the quarterfinals of the Super 500 tournament.
