Grand Prix Badminton League Season 2 postponed indefinitely
Grand Prix Badminton League (GPBL) on Saturday was postponed indefinitely after several players pulled out of the event, said League Commissioner Prasanth Reddy here. Reddy said the players were forced to withdraw from the GPBL, which was scheduled to begin on Sunday, after the Badminton Association of India (BAI) did not give necessary permission to run the league.
«Our attempts to reach out to BAI thus far have proved futile.
We will keep making efforts to reach out to them and find a way to work together. Though it is a big blow at the moment, GPBL Season 2 is only postponed for the moment, and will be back bigger and grander soon,» said Reddy during a press meet.
The Division Bench of Karnataka High Court had given a go-ahead for the GPBL on Friday.
However, citing a Supreme Court order dated August 22, the BAI through a circular issued late on Friday night stressed that players, coaching and technical staff should not be a part of any unauthorized tournaments or leagues.
In the circular, BAI said the Karnataka HC did not judge the petition on merits and the final hearing has been posted for September 12.
The national governing body further underlined that it could take appropriate action against players or other staff in retrospection if the September 12 verdict goes against the GPBL and its organisers.
The tournament was set to see participation from some of the top players in the country such as Mithun Manjunath and B Sai Praneeth.
Mithun was bought for Rs 14.5 lakh by Chennai Superstarz in the player auction on August 5, while Praneeth went to Northeast Rhinos for Rs 10 lakh.
While entertaining the hopes of securing a favourable order from Karnataka HC next month, Reddy said they will have to restart the league
